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CRIMINAL    TRIALS 


VOLUME  I. 


BOSTON: 

CHARLES  C. LITTLE  AND  JAMES  BROWN. 
LONDOH; 

A.MAXWEL.L.32  BELLTABD.LIHCOLJTS  DR5T. 


AMERICAN 


CRIMINAL    TRIALS. 


BY  PELEG  W.  CHANDLER, 

MEMBER    OF     THE     AMERICAN     ANTIQUARIAN     SOCIETY     AND     OF     THE 
MASSACHUSETTS     HISTORICAL    SOCIETY. 


VOLUME    1. 


BOSTON: 

TIMOTHY    H.    CARTER    AND    COMPANY. 
LONDON: 

A  MAXWELL,  32  BELL  YARD  LINCOLN'S  INN. 
MDCCCXLIV. 


84436 


Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1844, 

By  PELEG  W.  CHANDLER, 
in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


BOSTON : 

PRINTED  BY  FREEMAN  AND  BOLLES, 
WASHINGTON  STBEET. 


PREFACE. 


THE  publication  of  the  following  volume  may  be 
regarded  as  an  experiment,  which,  if  successful,  will 
demonstrate  that  the  most  important  and  interesting 
criminal  trials,  which  have  taken  place  in  this  coun- 
try, may  be  rendered  acceptable  to  the  general  read- 
er, in  the  form  of  abridged  narrations  divested  of  the 
technicalities  of  legal  proceedings. 

In  selecting  the  cases  for  publication,  the  author 
has  been  chiefly  governed  by  a  desire  to  present  those, 
which  might  be  interesting  to  the  American  reader, 
not  only  as  illustrative  of  the  morals  and  manners, 
but  as  connected  with  the  religious  or  political  his- 
tory, of  the  periods  in  which  they  occurred ;  and,  in 
preparing  them  for  the  press,  he  has  attempted  to 
give  an  account  of  each  case,  after  a  careful  exami- 
nation of  all  the  facts  which  might  throw  light  upon 


IV  PREFACE. 

it,  in  the  form  of  a  narrative  accompanied  by  such 
general  remarks  and  reflections  as  naturally  suggested 
themselves  to  his  mind ;  no  other  idea  of  complete- 
ness or  unity  of  purpose  being  entertained,  so  far  as 
the  present  work  is  concerned,  than  that  every  trial 
should  contain  all  the  facts,  necessary  to  make  it  in- 
telligible by  itself  and  without  reference  to  any  other. 

Judicial  investigations  with  a  view  to  the  discovery 
and  punishment  of  crimes,  as  they  involve  the  best 
interests  of  society,  always  excite  an  attention  com- 
mensurate with  their  importance,  wherever  they  are 
publicly  and  openly  conducted,  as  in  this  country  and 
in  some  of  the  states  of  Europe.  They  exhibit  hu- 
man nature  in  an  infinite  variety  of  positions,  and 
show  man  "  as  he  is  in  action  and  principle,  and  not 
as  he  is  usually  drawn  by  poets  and  speculative  phi- 
losophers." The  circumstances  of  difficulty  and 
danger,  with  which  they  surround  the  accused,  effec- 
tually test  and  develop  the  character  ;  while,  at  the 
same  time,  they  severely  task  the  highest  energies  of 
the  mind,  in  mortal  struggles  for  victory,  liberty,  and, 
not  seldom,  life  itself.  Events  and  transactions, 
stranger  and  more  wonderful  than  the  fictions  of  the 
most  fruitful  imagination,  are  not  unfrequently  re- 
vealed to  view,  as  realities,  in  the  proceedings  of 
criminal  tribunals. 

It  is  undoubtedly  more  interesting  to  witness  in 
person  the  proceedings  of  a  criminal  trial,  than  it  is 
to  read  an  account  of  them  in  a  journal  or  printed 


report ;  but  the  latter  retains  its  interest  and  value, 
long  after  the  scenes  it  professes  to  describe  have 
passed  from  the  memory  ;  and,  being  a  record  of 
facts,  ascertained  by  a  tribunal  erected  for  the  ex- 
press purpose  of  eliciting  the  truth,  it  becomes,  in 
process  of  time,  one  of  the  best  sources  of  personal 
and  general  history.  It  is  obvious,  however,  that 
reports  of  criminal  trials,  though  intelligible  enough 
at  the  time  of  the  events  which  they  record,  when 
all  the  attendant  circumstances  are  fresh  in  the  pub- 
lic mind,  soon  require  to  be  illustrated  by  facts  from 
cotemporaneous  history,  in  order  to  be  fully  under- 
stood and  properly  appreciated.  But.  besides  this, 
as  the  proceedings  in  judicial  tribunals  are  exclu- 
sively directed  to  the  ascertaining  of  particular  facts, 
they  are  often  meagre  in  themselves,  and  afford  little 
or  no  information  concerning  many  other  facts  and 
circumstances,  which  are  essential  to  enable  us  to 
understand  the  merits  of  a  case.  The  trial  of  an 
offender  is  but  a  point  in  the  history  of  the  crime,  — 
a  single  link  of  the  great  chain,  which  binds  together 
its  true  character  and  its  effects :  the  remote  circum- 
stances which  led  to  its  commission,  —  the  actual 
inducement,  —  the  relation  of  the  parties  concerned, 
—  the  detection,  and,  more  than  all,  the  personal 
history  and  previous  character  of  the  criminal  him- 
self, —  all  become  matters  of  interesting  inquiry,  in 
relation  to  which  the  naked  report  of  the  trial  affords 
no  light.  There  are  also  many  cases,  which,  at 


the  time  of  their  occurrence,  are  so  enveloped  in 
mystery,  that  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the  accused 
can  only  become  fully  manifest  by  the  lapse  of  time  ; 
and  these  need  to  be  investigated  by  the  aid  of 
subsequent  as  well  as  cotemporaneous  events.  From 
these  considerations,  it  is  apparent,  that  a  mere  col- 
lection, however  extensive,  of  criminal  trials,  repub- 
lished  in  their  original  form,  must  necessarily  be 
incomplete  in  many  important  particulars. 

There  are  two  great  collections  of  criminal  trials, 
which  deserve  the  highest  consideration  and  the 
most  careful  examination,  as  models  for  an  American 
work,  namely,  the  English  State  Trials  by  Howell, 
and  the  French  Causes  Celebres.  In  the  former, 
which  is  a  mere  republication,  the  cases  are  given 
precisely  as  they  were  originally  published,  without 
any  attempt  to  render  them  more  complete,  or  to 
condense  them  into  the  form  of  narratives  ;  so  that 
the  State  Trials,  however  valuable  as  a  work  of 
reference  to  the  historical  inquirer  or  the  lawyer,  are 
intolerably  dull  and  unprofitable  to  the  general  reader. 
The  French  collection,  on  the  other  hand,  partly 
from  the  nature  of  the  cases  themselves  as  well  as 
the  mode  of  their  investigation,  and  partly  from  the 
form  in  which  they  are  given,  presents  a  series  of 
narratives,  as  interesting  and  exciting  as  are  to  be 
found  in  romance  or  history. 

Another  work,  of  a  character  and  tendency  some- 
what different  from  those  just  mentioned,  which  is 


much  better  known  to  English  and  American  readers, 
in  general,  and  has  exercised  a  more  decided  influ- 
ence upon  society,  will  be  readily  recognised  as  the 
Newgate  Calendar.  The  plan  and  object  of  this  col- 
lection, which  has  served  as  a  model  for  a  species  of 
literature  now  unfortunately  become  popular  in  this 
country,  are  too  well  known  to  require  any  explana- 
tion, in  this  place  ;  or  to  make  it  necessary  to  record 
here  the  condemnation  pronounced  against  it  by  the 
tribunals  of  morals  and  taste.  Works  of  this  descrip- 
tion, which,  by  their  false  and  glowing  pictures  of 
criminal  trials,  create  an  admiration  for  desperate 
and  wicked  men,  and  excite  a  sympathy  for  their 
fate,  in  minds  of  kindred  depravity,  cannot  be  too 
strongly  deprecated  as  injurious  to  the  best  interests 
of  society. 

The  plan  of  the  present  work  more  nearly  resem- 
bles that  of  the  French  collection  than  of  any  one 
in  our  own  language.  The  design  is  to  give  a  his- 
torical sketch  of  each  case,  upon  a  careful  examina- 
tion and  consideration  of  all  the  facts  connected  with 
it,  in  the  form  of  an  abridged  narrative.  But  it  is 
obvious,  that  no  general  plan  of  a  work  like  this  can 
be  so  comprehensive,  as  not  to  require  to  be  variously 
modified  in  respect  to  each  particular  trial.  It  is  true 
of  some  criminal  trials,  that  they  explain  themselves, 
and  then  it  is  only  necessary  to  give  a  report  of  the 
actual  proceedings,  with  an  attempt,  perhaps,  to  ad- 
just the  incidents  so  as  to  produce  the  most  harmo- 


nious  or  striking  effect.  In  some  instances,  the  trial 
is  the  least  part  of  the  history  of  a  case,  and  may  be 
merely  mentioned  as  a  collateral  fact.  In  others,  the 
entire  interest  of  the  case  depends  upon  the  actual  pro- 
ceedings at  the  trial,  and  here  care  must  be  taken  to 
give  the  full  dramatic  effect,  by  suffering  the  actors 
in  the  exciting  scene  to  speak  for  themselves.  In 
other  cases,  the  arguments  of  the  advocates  at  the 
bar  are  the  chief  points  of  interest,  entirely  over- 
shadowing every  thing  else  connected  with  the  trial ; 
and  in  these  it  is  necessary  to  present  the  facts  and 
circumstances  which  go  to  illustrate  the  arguments. 
It  is  manifest,  therefore,  that  every  criminal  trial  must 
have  a  plan  of  its  own,  in  order  to  keep  up  the  interest 
of  the  reader,  and  to  preserve  the  dramatic  effect  of 
the  scenes  and  events  which  it  discloses. 

It  will  thus  be  seen,  that  the  plan  of  this  work  is 
somewhat  ambitious ;  and  the  execution  of  it  will  be 
vastly  more  laborious  than  that  of  a  mere  collection 
of  trials,  without  any  attempt  to  render  them  more 
complete,  by  collating  the  different  reports  of  each 
trial,  and  illustrating  it  by  facts  and  circumstances 
drawn  from  other  sources.  This  labor  will  be  much 
increased  in  cases  where  no  regular  report  has  ever 
been  made,  which  unfortunately  is  true  of  many 
American  trials  of  great  interest.  The  author  is  sen- 
sibly impressed  with  the  difficulties  of  the  task  which 
he  has  undertaken,  but  he  has  entered  upon  it  the 
more  willingly,  as,  from  the  nature  of  the  work,  it 


may  at  any  time  be  relinquished,  if  his  labors  become 
unsatisfactory  to  the  public,  or  oppressive  to  himself. 
Without  the  expectation  of  giving  his  production  the 
character  of  completeness  which  belongs  to  the  State 
Trials,  or  the  hope  of  infusing  into  it  the  spirit  and 
interest  which  characterize  the  Causes  Celebres,  he 
may  yet  be  permitted  to  remark,  that,  if  his  "  trials  " 
should  not  be  found  in  strict  accordance  with  truth, 
it  will  not  be  for  the  want  of  industrious  research  on 
his  part ;  and  if  they  do  not  prove  to  be  interesting, 
it  will  not  be  for  the  want  of  rich  materials  to  render 
them  so. 

There  being  no  necessary  connection  between 
the  several  parts  of  the  intended  collection,  the 
volumes  of  which  it  is  to  be  composed  will  be  pub- 
lished separately,  as  they  may  from  time  to  time  be 
prepared.  For  this  course  the  author  has  high  au- 
thority in  the  example  of  a  living  historian,  whose 
apology  he  adopts  as  his  own.  He  is  unwilling  to 
travel  so  long  a  journey  alone,  and  desires  as  he  pro- 
ceeds, to  correct  his  own  judgment  by  the  criticisms 
of  candor.  He  also  hopes  to  make  to  himself  friends 
disposed  to  place  within  his  reach  the  sources  of  in- 
formation which  are  essential  to  success. 

BOSTON,  NOVEMBER,  1841. 


CONTENTS. 


ANNE   HUTCHINSON. 

Trial  of  Anne  Hutchinson  before  the  General  Court  of  Massa- 
chusetts, for  sedition  and  heresy,  1637, 1 

THE   QUAKERS. 

Trials  of  the  Quakers  before  the  General  Court  and  Court  of 
Assistants,  Massachusetts,  1656  — 1661, 31 

SALEM   WITCHCRAFT. 

Trials  for  Witchcraft,  before  the  Special  Court  of  Oyer  and 
Terminer,  held  in  Salem,  Massachusetts,  1692, 65 

THOMAS  MAULE. 

Trial  of  Thomas  Maule  before  the  Superior  Court  of  Massa- 
chusetts, for  a  slanderous  publication  and  blasphemy,  1696,  141 

JOHN   PETER  ZENGER. 

Trial  of  John  Peter  Zenger  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  New 
York,  for  two  libels  on  the  Government,  1735, 151 

NEW   YORK   NEGRO   PLOT. 

Trials  of  certain  Negroes  and  others  before  the  Supreme  Court 
of  New  York,  for  a  conspiracy  to  burn  the  city  and  murder 
the  inhabitants,  1741, 211 


CONTENTS. 


LEISLER'S  REBELLION. 

Trial  of  Jacob  Leisler  before  a  Special  Court  of  Oyer  and  Ter- 

miner,  for  high  treason,  New  York,  1691, 255 

COLONEL  BAYARD'S  TREASON. 

Trial  of  Nicholas  Bayard  before  a  Special  Court  of  Oyer  and 
Terminer,  for  high  treason,  New  York,  1702, 267 

THE    CREW    OF    THE    PITT   PACKET. 

Trial  of  Michael  Corbett  and  others  before  a  Special  Court  of 
Vice  Admiralty,  for  murder  on  the  high  seas.  Boston,  1769,  295 

THE    BOSTON   MASSACRE. 

Trials  of  certain  British  Soldiers  before  the  Superior  Court  of 
Massachusetts,  for  the  murder  of  Crispus  Attacks  and  others. 
Boston,  1770, 301 


APPENDIX. 

Sketch  of  William.  Stoughton, 419 

Professional  Life  of  John  Adams, .  421 

Sketch  of  Josiah  Quincy,  Jun., 423 

Documents  respecting  the  Trials  for  Witchcraft, 426 

Advice  of  the  Elders  respecting  the  Quakers, 434 

Petition  of  William  Dyer  for  the  Life  of  his  Wife,     .     .     .     .  435 

Note  to  the  Trials  of  the  Quakers, 43G 


TRIAL  OF  ANNE  HUTCHINSON 


BEFORE     THE 


GENERAL    COURT    OF    MASSACHUSETTS, 


NOVEMBER,  1637. 


A  particular  account  of  the  celebrated  antinomian  controversy, 
in  the  early  history  of  Massachusetts,  with  which  Anne  Hutchin- 
son  became  completely  identified,  is  contained  in  a  work  by  Thomas 
Welde,  the  minister  of  Roxbury,  published  in  1644,  and  entitled  : 
"  A  short  Story  of  the  Rise,  Reign,  and  Ruin  of  the  Antinomians, 
Familists,  and  Libertines,  that  infected  the  churches  in  New  Eng- 
land :  And  how  they  were  confuted  by  the  Assembly  of  Ministers 
there :  As  also  of  the  Magistrates'  Proceedings  in  Court  against 
them.  Together  with  God's  strange,  remarkable  Judgments  from 
Heaven  upon  some  of  the  chief  Fomenters  of  these  opinions ;  and 
the  lamentable  death  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson."  The  subject  is  con- 
sidered, in  a  more  general  manner,  in  Hubbard's  History  of  New 
England  ;  Hutchinson's  History  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  Win- 
throp's  Journal,  by  Savage  ;  it  also  forms  an  interesting  topic  of 
remark  in  Grahame's  and  Bancroft's  Histories  of  the  United  States, 
and  Upham's  Life  of  Henry  Vane,  in  Sparks's  American  Biography. 


TRIAL  OF  ANNE  HUTCHINSON. 


A  SHORT  time  before  the  election  of  Henry  Vane  as 
governor  of  Massachusetts,  in  1636,  there  came  over 
from  Alford,  in  the  neighborhood  of  Boston,  England, 
William  Hutchinson  and  his  wife  Anne  Hutchinson, 
who  settled  in  Boston,  Massachusetts,  and  "joined 
the  church."  They  were  well  connected,  of  good 
estate  and  reputation,  and  received  much  attention 
in  the  colony.  Mr.  Hutchinson  was  chosen  several 
times  a  representative  of  Boston  in  the  general  court. 
It  was  the  fate  of  his  wife  to  exert  an  influence 
in  the  infant  commonwealth,  wholly  unexampled  in 
one  of  her  sex,  and  to  kindle  a  strife,  which  has 
rendered  her  the  heroine  of  a  passage  in  its  history, 
as  singular,  interesting,  and  tragical,  as  any  it  con- 
tains. The  apparently  trifling  origin  of  the  difncul* 
ties,  in  which  she  found  herself  involved  soon  after 
her  arrival,  is  not  the  least  remarkable  part  of  her 
story  ;  and  the  mistake  of  magnifying  and  punishing 


4  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

that  as  heresy,  which  was  simple  impropriety,  or,  at 
most,  harmless  fanaticism,  is  not  the  least  instruct- 
ive portion  of  the  history  of  her  trial  and  condemna- 
tion. 

By  a  long  established  custom  in  Boston,  besides 
the  meetings  for  worship  on  the  Lord's  day,  and  oc- 
casional lectures  as  in  other  towns,  there  were  frequent 
private  meetings  of  the  brethren  of  the  churches  for 
religious  exercises.  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  "  a  woman  of 
a  haughty  and  fierce  carriage,  of  a  nimble  wit  and 
active  spirit,  and  a  very  voluble  tongue,"  submitted 
with  impatience  to  the  regulation  by  which  women, 
at  these  meetings,  were  debarred  from  the  privilege 
of  joining  in  the  debates.  She  therefore  set  up  a 
meeting  of  the  sisters  also,  where  she  repeated  the 
sermons,  preached  the  Lord's  day  before,  adding  her 
own  remarks  and  expositions.  The  idea  was  novel ; 
her  illustrations  of  scripture  were  new  and  striking ; 
and,  being  possessed  of  great  subtlety  and  vivacity 
of  apprehension,  she  rendered  her  meetings  more 
interesting  to  the  female  portion  of  the  community, 
than  any  they  attended.  Moreover,  being  "  a  wo- 
man very  helpful  in  the  times  of  child-birth,  and 
other  occasions  of  bodily  infirmities,  and  well  fur- 
nished with  means  for  these  purposes,  she  easily  in- 
sinuated herself  into  the  affections  of  many,"  who 
became  sincerely  and  warmly  attached  to  her,  and 
eagerly  received  all  her  doctrines.  Nor  were  those 
who  regarded  her  with  favor  confined  to  her  own  sex. 
The  excellent  John  Cotton  gave  her  his  support  and 
warm  approval ;  and,  Henry  Vane,  one  of  the  most 
remarkable  men  of  that  age,  who  had  left  the  halls 


ANNE    HTJTCHINSON.  5 

of  his  fathers  for  the  wilderness  of  New  England, 
that  he  might  more  freely  enjoy  the  rights  of  con- 
science, and  who,  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-four, 
soon  after  his  arrival  in  the  colony,  was  chosen  its  go- 
vernor, became  an  open  and  ardent  admirer  of  Mrs. 
Hutchinson  and  her  doctrines  ;  whether  for  the  pur- 
pose of  strengthening  himself  in  a  political  point  of 
view  or  from  sincere  belief,  it  is  not  necessary  now 
to  inquire. 

At  first,  these  meetings  met  the  entire  approbation 
of  the  clergy  ;  but  that  powerful  and  somewhat  sel- 
fish class  soon  began  to  look  upon  them  with  disap- 
probation. They  became  jealous  of  the  influence 
of  a  custom,  which  brought  a  power  to  bear  on  the 
religious  feelings  and  views  of  the  female  portion  of 
their  people,  dangerous  to  their  own  authority,  and 
wholly  out  of  their  control.  They  discovered,  also, 
or  thought  they  discovered  alarming  heresies  in  the 
doctrines  which  Mrs.  Hutchinson  promulgated.  "  At 
first,"  said  one  of  their  number,  "  all  this  was  well, 
and  suited  with  the  public  ministry,  which  went 
along  in  the  same  way,  and  all  the  faithful  embraced 
it,  and  blessed  God  for  the  good  success  that  ap- 
peared from  this  discovery.  But  when  she  had  thus 
prepared  the  way  by  such  wholesome  truths,  then 
she  begins  to  set  forth  her  own  stuff,  and  taught  that 
no  sanctification  was  any  evidence  of  a  good  estate, 
except  their  justification  were  first  cleared  up  to 
them  by  the  immediate  witness  of  the  spirit,  and  that 
to  see  any  work  of  grace,  (either  faith  or  repentance 
&c.)  before  this  immediate  witness,  was  a  covenant 
of  works :  whereupon  many  good  souls  that  had 
l* 


6  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

been  of  long  approved  godliness,  were  brought  to  re- 
nounce all  the  work  of  grace  in  them,  and  to  wait 
for  this  immediate  revelation  :  then  sprung  up  also 
that  opinion  of  the  indwelling  of  the  person  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  and  of  union  with  Christ,  and  justifica- 
tion before  faith,  and  a  denying  of  any  gifts  or  graces, 
or  inherent  qualifications,  and  that  Christ  was  all,  did 
all,  and  that  the  soul  remained  always  as  a  dead  or- 
gan :  but  the  main  and  bottom  of  all,  which  tended 
to  quench  all  endeavor,  and  to  bring  to  a  dependence 
upon  an  immediate  witness  of  the  spirit,  without 
sight  of  any  gift  or  grace,  this  stuck  fast,  and  pre- 
vailed so  as  it  began  to  be  opposed,  and  she  being 
questioned  by  some,  who  marveled  that  such  opin- 
ions should  spread  so  fast,  she  made  answer,  that 
wherever  she  came,  they  must  and  they  should 


It  was  also  asserted,  that  Mrs.  Hutchinson  and  her 
adherents,  in  addition  to  their  original  tenets,  received 
that  difficult  doctrine  of  the  quakers,  afterwards  so 
abhorrent  to  the  colonists,  that  the  spirit  of  God 
communicates  with  the  minds  of  believers  independ- 
ently of  the  written  word  ;  and,  in  consistency  with 
this,  that  her  hearers  received  many  revelations  of 
future  events  announced  to  them  by  Mrs.  Hutch- 
inson, as  equally  infallible  with  the  prophecies  of 
scripture.  But  it  has  been  well  remarked,  that 
the  accounts,  which  are  transmitted  to  us  of  such 
theological  discussions,  are  always  obscured  by  the 
cloud  of  contemporary  passion,  prejudice,  and  error. 
Hasty  effusions  of  passionate  zeal  are  mistaken  for 
deliberate  sentiments  ;  and  the  excesses  of  the  zealots 


ANNE    HUTCHINSON.  7 

of  a  party  held  up  as  the  standard  by  which  the 
whole  body  may  fairly  be  tried. 

The  clergy  at  length  became  greatly  alarmed  at 
the  extent  to  which  their  authority  and  influence 
were  threatened ;  and  they  determined  to  take  efficient 
and  energetic  measures  in  opposition  to  Mrs.  Hutch- 
inson  and  her  doctrines.  The  first  synod  ever  held 
in  America  assembled  at  Newtown,  now  Cambridge, 
to  consider  this  new  and  extraordinary  state  of  things  ; 
and,  after  a  three  weeks'  discussion,  no  less  than 
eighty-two  errors  were  enumerated  and  condemned. 
The  modern  reader  is  lost  in  admiration  at  the  in- 
comprehensible jargon  contained  in  this  exposition 
of  false  doctrines,  and  strives  in  vain  to  ascertain  the 
practical  points  of  difference  between  the  parties, 
sufficient  to  account  for  the  extreme  bitterness  with 
which  this  controversy  was  conducted  on  both  sides. 
Enlightened  by  the  experience  of  religious  contro- 
versies of  his  own  times,  he  easily  concludes,  that 
the  matter  was  attended  with  difficulties  of  a  personal 
nature,  having  their  origin  in  the  peculiar  character 
of  the  colonists  of  New  England,  and  difficult  to  be 
appreciated  at  the  present  day. 

The  decrees  of  the  synod  had  little  effect  on  Mrs. 
Hutchinson.  Persuaded  of  the  superior  clearness, 
truth,  and  simplicity  of  their  system  of  doctrines, 
both  she  and  her  adherents  were  impatient  of  opposi- 
tion, and  attacked  the  sentiments  of  their  adversaries 
with  an  acrimony  and  invective,  which  were  not 
likely  to  be  borne  with  patience.  With  the  eagerness 
and  impetuosity  of  female  feeling,  they  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  brand  with  terms  of  heretical  and  contempt- 


8  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

uous  designation,  every  inhabitant  of  the  colony, 
and  particularly  every  minister,  whose  views  did  not 
coincide  with  their  own. 

These  religious  disputes  at  length  assumed  the 
highest  political  importance.  Nearly  all  the  clergy, 
except  Cotton  and  John  Wheelwright,  clustered  to- 
gether in  defence  of  their  influence.  The  latter,  a 
brother-in-law  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  increased  the 
flame  by  a  fast  day's  sermon,  in  1637,  in  which  he 
made  use  of  some  objectionable  expressions  ;  and  he 
was  examined  before  the  general  court  for  sedition  and 
contempt.'  In  the  midst  of  this  excitement,  the 
general  elections  came  on.  The  struggle  for  power 
by  rival  religious  factions,  always  arduous  and  severe, 
was  rendered  peculiarly  interesting  at  the  present 
time,  from  the  consideration  that  the  arm  of  civil 
power  would  be  brought  to  bear  upon  the  defeated 
party.  The  excitement  throughout  Massachusetts 
was  unprecedented.  John  Winthrop,  the  father  of 
the  colony,  led  the  opposition,  and  was  supported  by 
all  the  churches,  except  those  in  Boston.  Their  suc- 
cess was  complete.  Winthrop  was  chosen  governor  ; 
Vane  and  all  his  party  were  left  out  of  office. 


1  There  is  a  copy  of  this  sermon  among  the  manuscripts  in  the 
archives  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society.  Its  character  is 
not  such  as  to  justify  the  charge  of  sedition  and  contempt,  nor  to 
prevent  the  present  age  from  regarding  the  subsequent  proceedings 
against  Wheelwright  as  an  example  of  ecclesiastical  tyranny.  The 
reader,  curious  in  relation  to  the  religious  discussions  of  this  period, 
is  referred  to  the  first  volume  of  Winthrop's  Journal,  by  Savage. 
The  notes  of  the  distinguished  editor,  himself  a  lineal  descendant 
of  Anne  Hutchinson,  are  in  the  highest  degree  instructive  and 
not  less  amusing. 


ANNE    HUTCHINSON.  9 

Most  stringent  measures  were  immediately  adopted 
to  carry  into  effect  the  decrees  of  the  synod  and  to  put 
an  end  to  the  antinomian  heresy.  The  first  measure, 
to  prevent  the  increase  of  a  faction  esteemed  so 
dangerous,  was  a  law  by  the  party  in  power,  that 
none  should  be  received  within  the  jurisdiction,  but 
such  as  should  be  allowed  by  some  of  the  magis- 
trates. After  vainly  opposing  this  act  of  intolerance, 
and  leaving  a  memorial  of  his  dissent,  Vane  returned 
to  England.  The  court  then  sent  for  Wheelwright, 
and  requiring  of  him  an  acknowledgment  of  his 
offence,  he  refused  it  and  justified  his  conduct ;  but 
the  court  resolved  that  it  tended  to  disturb  the  civil 
peace,  disfranchised  and  banished  him,  allowing  him 
fourteen  days  to  settle  his  affairs.  He  claimed  an 
appeal  to  the  king,  but  the  court  resolved,  that  an 
appeal  did  not  lie  in  the  case,  and  he  was  compelled 
to  leave  the  colony.  Some  of  his  friends  were  pun- 
ished in  various  ways,  and  a  part  of  them  followed 
him  into  banishment.1 

"  All  these  were  but  young  branches,  sprung  out 
of  an  old  root ;  the  court  had  now  to  do  with  the 
head  of  this  faction,  Dux  focmina  facti,  a  woman 
had  been  the  breeder  and  nourisher  of  all  these  dis- 
tempers, one  Mistress  Hutchinson ; "  and  she  was 
next  called  to  take  her  trial  before  the  general  court 
and  many  elders,  at  Newtown,  now  Cambridge,  in  No- 


1  They  removed  to  the  banks  of  the  Piscataqua,  and,  at  the  head 
of  tide  waters  on  that  river,  they  founded  the  town  of  Exeter. 
Wheelwright  afterwards  removed  to  Hampton  and  from  thence  to 
Salisbury.  He  was  restored  in  1644,  upon  a  slight  acknowledgment. 
He  lived  to  be  the  oldest  minister  in  the  colony,  and  died  in  1680. 


10  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

vember,  1637.  The  proceedings  exhibit,  in  a  striking 
manner,  the  arbitrary  character  of  this  popular  tri- 
bunal, and  the  entire  disregard  of  the  fundamental 
principles  of  the  common  law  in  the  modes  of  judi- 
cial procedure  at  that  day.  It  is  impossible  to  escape 
the  conviction,  that  Mrs.  Hutchinson  was  tried  by 
men,  to  whom  religious  toleration  was  hateful ;  who 
were  previously  determined  to  convict  her,  and 
made  use  of  the  form  of  a  trial  to  find  some  better 
pretext,  than  they  already  had,  to  accomplish  their 
designs.  Accordingly,  she  was  subjected  to  a  most 
tedious,  severe,  and  trying  examination  by  the  gover- 
nor, the  lieutenant  governor,  and  the  principal  men  in 
the  colony,  for  two  days.  But  during  the  whole  of 
it,  she  exhibited  a  most  extraordinary  degree  of  tal- 
ent, learning,  skill  and  fortitude.  "  She  was  cunning 
as  well  as  fanatical."1 

(J*  You  are  called  here,"  said  governor  Winthrop, 
at  the  commencement  of  these  extraordinary  proceed- 
ings, "  as  one  of  those  that  have  troubled  the  peace 
of  the  commonwealth  and  the  churches  here  ;  you 
are  known  to  be  a  woman  that  hath  had  a  great 

1  A  manuscript  report  of  this  trial  was  seen  by  Hutchinson,  the 
historian  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  and  is  printed  in  the  appendix 
to  his  second  volume.  By  whom,  and  when  it  was  prepared,  he 
does  not  inform  us,  if  he  knew.  The  account  of  the  proceedings, 
in  Welde's  Short  Story,  is  less  minute.  Welde  was  a  member  of 
the  court,  and  a  bitter  opponent  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson  ;  he  took 
an  active  part  against  her,  on  her  trial.  His  work  is  characterized 
by  the  usual  bitterness  of  religious  controversial  writings  of  that 
day.  Some  of  his  stories  are  yet  more  foolish  than  false,  and  more 
disgusting  than  either.  The  edition,  London,  1644,  is  in  the  Boston 
Athenaeum ;  a  second  edition,  London,  1692,  is  in  the  library  of 
Harvard  University, 


ANNE    HUTCHINSON.  11 

share  in  the  promoting  and  divulging  of  those  opin- 
ions that  are  causes  of  this  trouble,  and  to  be  nearly 
joined,  not  only  in  affinity  and  affection,  with  some 
of  those  the  court  hath  taken  notice  of,  and  passed 
censure  upon,  but  you  have  spoken  divers  things,  as 
we  have  been  informed,  very  prejudicial  to  the  honor 
of  the  churches  and  ministers  thereof,  and  you  have 
maintained  a  meeting  and  an  assembly  in  your  house 
that  hath  been  condemned  by  the  general  assembly 
as  a  thing  not  tolerable  nor  comely  in  the  sight  of 
God,  nor  fitting  for  your  sexjand  notwithstanding 
that  was  cried  down,  you  have  continued  the  same ; 
therefore  we  have  thought  good  to  send  for  you  to 
understand  how  things  are,  that  if  you  be  in  an  er- 
roneous way,  we  may  reduce  you,  that  so  you  may 
become  a  profitable  member  here  among  us  ;  other- 
wise if  you  be.  obstinate  in  your  course,  that  then  the 
court  may  take  such  course  that  you  may  trouble  us 
no  farther.  Therefore  I  would  entreat  you  to  ex- 
press, whether  you  do  not  hold  and  assent  in  practice, 
to  the  opinions  and  factions  that  have  been  handled 
in  court  already,  that  is  to  say,  whether  you  do  not 
justify  Mr.  Wheelwright's  sermon  and  the  petition."1 
"  I  am  called  here,"  was  the  appropriate  and 
striking  answer  of  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  embodying  a 
great  principle  of  the  common  law,  which  re- 
quires every  offence  to  be  set  forth  with  clearness 

1  After  the  court  had  pronounced  Mr.  Wheelwright's  fast  day 
sermon  seditious,  a  petition  or  remonstrance  was  sent  to  them  by 
a  large  number  of  the  citizens  of  Boston,  which  was  also  considered 
to  be  seditious  by  the  court,  and  several  who  signed  it  were  pun- 
ished. 


12  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

and  certainty,  "  to  answer  before  you,  but  I  hear  no 
things  laid  to  my  charge." 

"  I  have  told  you  some  already,  and  more  I  can 
tell  you." 

"  Name  one,  sir." 

"  Have  I  not  named  some  already  ?  " 

"  What  have  I  said  or  done  ? " 

"  Why,  for  your  doings,  this,  you  did  harbor  and 
countenance  those  that  are  parties  in  this  faction,  that 
you  have  heard  of." 

"  That 's  matter  of  conscience,  sir." 

"  Your  conscience  you  must  keep,  or  it  must  be 
kept  for  you." 

"  Must  I  not,  then,  entertain  the  saints,  because  I 
must  keep  my  conscience  ?  " 

"  Say,  that  one  brother  should  commit  felony  or 
treason,  and  come  to  his  other  brother's  house,  if  he 
knows  him  guilty,  and  conceals  him,  he  is  guilty  of 
the  same.  It  is  his  conscience  to  entertain  him,  but 
if  his  conscience  comes  into  act  in  giving  counte- 
nance and  entertainment  to  him  that  hath  broken  the 
law,  he  is  guilty  too.  So  if  you  do  countenance 
those  that  are  transgressors  of  the  law,  you  are  in 
the  same  fact." 

"  What  law  do  they  transgress  ? " 

"  The  law  of  God  and  of  the  state." 

"  In  what  particular  ?  " 

"  Why  in  this  among  the  rest,  whereas  the  Lord 
doth  say  honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother,  which  in- 
cludes all  in  authority ;  but  these  seditious  practices 
of  theirs  have  cast  reproach  and  dishonor  on  the  fa- 
thers of  the  commonwealth." 


ANNE    HUTCHINSON.  13 

"  Do  I  entertain,  or  maintain  them  in  their  actions, 
wherein  they  stand  against  any  thing  that  God  hath 
appointed  ? " 

"  Yes,  you  have  justified  Mr.  Wheelwright's  ser- 
mon, for  which  you  know  he  was  convict  of  sedition, 
and  you  have  likewise  countenanced  and  encouraged 
those  that  had  their  hands  to  the  petition." 

"  I  deny  it;  I  am  to  obey  you  only  in  the  Lord." 

"  You  have  joined  them  in  the  faction." 

"  In  what  faction  have  I  joined  with  them?" 

"  In  presenting  the  petition." 

"  But  I  had  not  my  hand  to  the  petition." 

"  You  have  counseled  them." 

"Wherein?" 

"  Why,  in  entertaining  them." 

"  What  breach  of  law  is  that,  sir  ? " 

"  Why,  dishonoring  of  parents." 

"  But  put  the  case,  sir,  that  I  do  fear  the  Lord  and 
my  parents,  may  not  I  entertain  them  that  fear  the 
Lord,  because  my  parents  will  not  give  me  leave  ? " 

"  If  they  be  the  fathers  of  the  commonwealth, 
and  they  of  another  religion,  if  you  entertain  them, 
then  you  dishonor  your  parents  and  are  justly  pun- 
ishable." 

"  If  I  entertain  them  as  they  have  dishonored  their 
parents,  I  do." 

"  No,  but  you  by  countenancing  them  above  others 
put  honor  upon  them." 

"  I  may  put  honor  upon  them  as  the  children  of 
God,  and  as  they  do  honor  the  Lord." 

"  We  do  not  mean  to  discourse  with  those  of  your 
sex  upon  this,"  the  governor  replied,  apparently  tired 


14  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

of  this  part  of  the  subject,  "  you  do  adhere  unto 
them  and  do  endeavor  to  set  forward  this  faction,  and 
so  you  do  dishonor  us." 

He  then  took  up  another  subject  of  complaint 
against  Mrs.  Hutchinson  ;  and  that  was  her  weekly 
meetings.  These  she  defended  herself  with  great 
skill  and  ability ;  the  custom,  she  said,  was  to  hold 
private  weekly  meetings  when  she  first  came  to 
the  country.  She  did  not  go  to  them,  and  was 
called  proud  ;  wherefore  she  had  meetings  at  her 
own  house.  At  first  they  were  attended  by  only  five 
or  six  ;  but  being  tolerated,  the  number  gradually 
increased,  and  she  conceived  it  to  be  proper  for  her 
to  hold  them  according  to  the  doctrine  in  the  second 
of  Titus,  where  the  elder  women  are  to  teach  the 
younger. 

"  But,"  said  the  governor,  "  the  apostle  there  means 
privately ;  and  gives  no  warrant  for  such  set  meetings 
as  yours.  Besides,  you  take  it  upon  yourself  to  teach 
many  that  are  elder  than  yourself.  Neither  do  you 
teach  them  that  which  the  apostle  commands,  'to 
keep  at  home.' " 

"  Will  it  please  you  to  answer  this,  and  to  give  me 
a  rule,  for  then  I  will  willingly  submit  to  any  truth. 
If  any  come  to  my  house  to  be  instructed  in  the  ways 
of  God,  what  rule  have  I  to  put  them  away?" 

"  Suppose,"  was  the  answer,  "  that  a  hundred 
men  come  unto  you  to  be  instructed,  will  you  forbear 
to  instruct  them  ? " 

In  answer  to  this,  Mrs.  Hutchinson  said,  that  such 
a  course  must,  in  her  opinion,  be  unauthorized  by 
scripture ;  but  if  one  man  should  come  to  her  and 


ANNE    HUTCHINSON.  15 

ask  her  instruction  upon  religious  matters,  she  con- 
ceived that  she  might  give  it  to  him.1 

"  Here  is  my  authority,  Aquila  and  Priscilla  took 
upon  them  to  instruct  Apollo  more  perfectly,  yet  he 
was  a  man  of  good  parts,  but  they  being  better  in- 
structed, might  teach  him." 

"  See  how  your  argument  stands,"  answered  the 
governor,  "  Priscilla  with  her  husband  took  Apollo 
home  to  instruct  him  privately,  therefore  Mistress 
Hutchinson,  without  her  husband,  might  teach  sixty 
or  eighty  !  " 

"  I  call  them  not,"  was  the  reply,  "  if  they  come  to 
me,  I  may  instruct  them." 

"  Your  course,"  said  the  governor  at  length,  •'<  is 
not  to  be  suffered,  for  besides,  that  we  find  such  a 
course  as  this  to  be  greatly  prejudicial  to  the  state ; 
besides  the  occasion  that  it  is  to  seduce  many  honest 
persons  that  are  called  to  those  meetings,  and,  your 
opinions  being  known  to  be  different  from  the  word 
of  God,  may  seduce  many  simple  souls  that  resort 
unto  you  ;  besides  that  the  occasion  which  hath  come 
of  late,  hath  come  from  none  but  such  as  have  fre- 
quented your  meetings,  so  that  now  they  are  flown 
off  from  magistrates  and  ministers,  and  this  since 
they  have  come  to  you ;  and,  besides,  that  it  will  not 
well  stand  with  the  commonwealth  that  families  should 
be  neglected,  for  so  many  neighbors  and  dames  and 
so  much  time  spent ;  we  see  no  rule  of  God  for  this, 
we  see  not  that  any  should  have  authority  to  set  up 


1  Here  the  court  gave  the  accused  liberty  to  sit  down,  "for  her 
countenance  discovered  some  bodily  infirmity." 


16  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

any  other  exercises  besides  what  authority  hath  al- 
ready set  up  ;  and  so  what  hurt  comes  of  this  you  will 
be  guilty  of  and  we  for  suffering  you." 

It  is  perfectly  apparent,  that  the  real  difficulties  in 
this  case  had  not  yet  been  reached.  The  views  of 
governor  Winthrop  were  generally  sensible,  and  en- 
tirely consistent  with  the  mildness  and  wisdom  of 
that  great  and  good  man ;  but  the  offences  he  had 
enumerated  were  clearly  insufficient  to  have  caused 
the  previous  excitement  against  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  or 
to  justify  the  course  the  court  were  determined  to 
pursue.  The  real  trouble  was  with  the  clergy.  The 
freedom  with  which  this  woman  had  discussed  their 
characters,  as  ministers  of  the  truth,  was  intolerable 
at  that  age  and  in  Massachusetts  Bay.  The  com- 
parisons, also,  which  she  had  instituted  between  her 
friend  Mr.  Cotton  and  the  others,  were  irritating  in 
the  extreme.  "Mr.  Cotton,"  she  was  reported  to 
have  asserted,  "  preached  a  covenant  of  faith,  but 
the  other  ministers  were  under  a  covenant  of  works ; 
they  had  not  the  seal  of  the  spirit,  so  were  not  able 
ministers  of  the  New  Testament."  This  becoming 
public,  they  advised  with  Mr.  Cotton  about  it,  and  a 
meeting  was  appointed  at  his  house,  during  which 
Mrs.  Hutchinson  was  sent  for,  and  after  being  ques- 
tioned, she  said,  as  they  asserted,  that  the  fear  of 
man  was  a  snare,  and,  therefore,  she  was  glad  she 
had  this  opportunity  to  open  her  mind ;  thereupon 
she  told  them,  that  there  was  a  wide  difference  be- 
twixt Master  Cotton's  ministry  and  theirs  ;  that  they 
could  not  hold  forth  a  covenant  of  free  grace,  because 
they  had  not  the  seal  of  the  spirit,  and  that  they  were 
not  able  ministers  of  the  New  Testament, 


ANNE    HUTCHINSON.  17 

This  conversation  was  now  related  by  the  ministers 
who  heard  it,  with  no  little  zeal  and  animation,  and 
they  undoubtedly  made  the  most  of  it ;  for  the  ac- 
cused denied  with  firmness  and  spirit,  that  she  had 
ever  made  the  remarks  in  the  manner  and  to  the  ex- 
tent that  they  asserted ;  and  she  required  that  the 
witnesses  should  be  sworn  to  what  they  had  spoken. 

"  The  ministers,"  she  said,  "  come  in  their  own 
cause.  Now  the  Lord  hath  said  that  an  oath  is  the 
end  of  all  controversy  ;  though  there  be  a  sufficient 
number  of  witnesses,  yet  they  are  not  according  to 
the  word ;  therefore  I  desire  they  may  speak  upon 
oath." 

"  Well,"  replied  the  governor,  "  it  is  in  the  liberty 
of  the  court,  whether  they  will  have  an  oath  or  no ; 
and  it  is  not  in  this  case  as  in  the  case  of  a  jury.  If 
they  be  satisfied,  they  have  sufficient  matter  to  pro- 
ceed." 

This  claim  by  Mrs.  Hutchinson  troubled  the  court 
exceedingly ;  they  were  also  astonished  at  the  hardi- 
hood, which  should  doubt  the  solemn  statements  of 
the  ministers  in  matters  of  fact. 

"  An  oath,"  said  the  deputy  from  Watertown  and 
a  ruling  elder  there,  "  is  of  a  high  nature,  and  it  is 
not  to  be  taken  but  in  a  controversy ;  and,  for  my 
part,  I  am  afraid  of  an  oath,  and  fear  that  we  shall 
take  God's  name  in  vain." 

"  We  are  ready  to  swear  if  we  may  see  a  way  of 
God  in  it,"  said  Hugh  Peters.1 


1  The  minister  of  Salem,  and  most  active  in  the  measures  taken 
against   Mrs.    Hutchinson.     "  He    was   a  republican   of  enlarged 
2" 


18  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

"  I  am  persuaded,"  said  another,  "  that  Mrs. 
Hutchinson  and  many  other  godly-minded  people 
will  be  satisfied  without  an  oath." 

"  Admit  they  should  be  mistaken,"  said  another, 
"  you  would  make  them  sin  if  you  urge  them  to 
swear." 

"  They  are  witnesses  in  their  own  cause,"  was  the 
reply  ;  "  if  they  do  accuse  me,  I  desire  it  may  be  on 
oath.  An  oath  is  the  end  of  strife,  and  it  is  God's 
ordinance." 

Here  there  was  a  great  commotion  and  whispering 
among  the  ministers.  Some  drew  back  ;  others  were 
"  animated  on."  At  length,  "  the  court,  being  weary 
of  the  clamor,  and  that  all  mouths  might  be  stopped, 
required  three  of  the  ministers  to  take  an  oath,  and 
thereupon  they  confirmed  their  former  testimony." 

One  or  two  spoke  in  favor  of  the  accused,  to  the 
effect,  that  her  speeches  had  been  exaggerated  by  the 
witnesses  against  her.  Mr.  Coggershall  was  present 
at  the  conversation  alluded  to,  and  did  not  under- 
stand her  to  say  all  that  was  alleged  against  her. 

"  How  dare  you  look  into  the  court  to  say  such  a 
word  ?  "  said  Hugh  Peters. 

"  Mr.  Peters  takes  it  upon  him  to  forbid  me,  and 
I  shall  be  silent,"  was  the  reply ;  and  he  did  not 
speak  again. 

Mr.  Cotton,  also,  denied  the  accuracy  of  the  wit- 
nesses in  some  measure.  He  ventured  to  defend  the 


spirit,  great  energy,  and  popular  eloquence  j  "  the  same  who  was 
afterwards  executed  in  England  for  high  treason,  and  whose  ar- 
raignment, trial,  and  execution  were  scenes  of  more  wanton  injus- 
tice, than  the  cause  in  which  he  was  now  engaged. 


ANNE    HUTCHINSON.  19 

accused  to  some  extent,  and  brought  upon  his  own 
head  much  of  the  feeling  against  her.  He  seems  at 
one  part  of  the  trial  to  have  been  in  danger.  Dud- 
ley, the  deputy  governor,  bore  hard  upon  him,  and 
Hugh  Peters  showed,  that  he  was  well  disposed  to 
bring  him  to  trial.  The  other  ministers  treated  him 
coldly,  but  he  was  protected  by  the  governor. 

Mrs.  Hutchinson  soon  avowed  sentiments  which 
the  court  eagerly  laid  hold  of,  and  which  saved  them 
the  trouble  of  further  evidence. 

"If  you  please  to  give  me  leave,"  she  said,  "I 
shall  give  you  the  ground  of  what  I  know  to  be  true. 
Being  much  troubled  to  see  the  falseness  of  the  con- 
stitution of  the  church  of  England,  I  had  like  to  have 
turned  separatist ;  whereupon  I  kept  a  day  of  solemn 
humiliation  and  pondering  of  the  thing ;  this  scripture 
was  brought  unto  me — he  that  denies  Jesus  Christ 
to  be  come  in  the  flesh  is  antichrist  —  this  I  consid- 
ered of  and  in  considering  found  that  the  papists  did 
not  deny  him  to  be  come  in  the  flesh,  nor  we  did  not 
deny  him  —  who  then  was  antichrist  ?  Was  the  Turk 
antichrist  only  ?  The  Lord  knows  that  I  could  not 
open  scripture  ;  he  must  by  his  prophetical  office 
open  it  unto  me.  So,  after  that,  being  unsatisfied  in 
the  thing,  the  Lord  was  pleased  to  bring  this  scripture 
out  of  the  Hebrews.  He  that  denies  the  testament 
denies  the  testator,  and  in  this  did  open  unto  me  and 
give  me  to  see,  that  those  which  did  not  teach  the 
new  covenant  had  the  spirit  of  antichrist,  and  upon 
this  he  did  discover  the  ministry  unto  me,  and,  ever 
since,  I  bless  the  Lord,  he  hath  let  me  see  which  was 
the  clear  ministry  and  which  the  wrong.  Since  that 


20  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

time  I  confess  I  have  been  more  choice,  and  he  hath 
let  me  to  distinguish  between  the  voice  of  my  beloved 
and  the  voice  of  Moses,  the  voice  of  John  Baptist 
and  the  voice  of  antichrist,  for  all  those  voices  are 
spoken  of  in  scripture.  Now,  if  you  do  condemn 
me  for  speaking  what  in  my  conscience  I  know  to  be 
truth,  I  must  commit  myself  unto  the  Lord." 

Nowell.  How  do  you  know  that  that  was  the 
spirit  ? 

Mrs.  H.  How  did  Abraham  know  that  it  was 
God  that  bade  him  offer  his  son,  being  a  breach  of  the 
sixth  commandment? 

Deputy  Governor  Dudley.    By  an  immediate  voice. 

Mrs.  H.     So  to  me  by  an  immediate  revelation. 

Dudley.     How  !  an  immediate  revelation  ? 

Mrs.  H.  By  the  voice  of  his  own  spirit  to  my 
soul.  I  will  give  you  another  scripture,  Jer.  xlvi.  27, 
28  —  out  of  which  the  Lord  showed  me  what  he 
would  do  for  me  and  the  rest  of  his  servants.  But 
after  he  was  pleased  to  reveal  himself  to  me,  I  did 
presently  like  Abraham  run  to  Hagar.  And,  after 
that,  he  did  let  me  see  the  atheism  of  my  own  heart, 
for  which  I  begged  of  the  Lord  that  it  might  not  re- 
main in  my  heart ;  and,  being  thus,  he  did  show  me 
this  (a  twelvemonth  after)  which  I  told  you  of  be- 
fore. Ever  since  that  time  I  have  been  confident  of 
what  he  revealed  unto  me.  When  our  teacher  came 
to  New  England,  it  was  a  great  trouble  unto  me,  my 
brother  Wheelwright  being  put  by  also.  I  was  then 
much  troubled  concerning  the  ministry  under  which 
I  lived,  and  then  that  place  in  the  thirtieth  of  Isaiah 
was  brought  to  my  mind.  "  Though  the  Lord  give 


ANNE    HUTCHINSON.  21 

you  the  bread  of  adversity  and  water  of  affliction,  yet 
shall  not  thy  teachers  be  removed  into  a  corner  any 
more,  but  thine  eyes  shall  see  thy  teachers."  The 
Lord  giving  me  this  promise,  and  they  being  gone, 
there  was  none  then  left  that  I  was  able  to  hear,  and 
I  could  not  be  at  rest  but  I  must  come  hither.  Yet 
that  place  of  Isaiah  did  much  follow  me,  "  though  the 
Lord  give  you  the  bread  of  adversity  and  water  of 
affliction."  This  place  lying  I  say  upon  me,  then  this 
place  in  Daniel  was  brought  unto  me,  and  did  show 
me  that  though  I  should  meet  with  affliction,  yet  I 
am  the  same  God  that  delivered  Daniel  out  of  the 
lion's  den,  I  will  also  deliver  thee.  Therefore,  I  de- 
sire you  to  look  to  it,  for  you  see  this  scripture  ful- 
filled this  day,  and  therefore  I  desire  you,  that  as  you 
tender  the  Lord  and  the  church  and  commonwealth, 
to  consider  and  look  what  you  do.  You  have  power 
over  my  body,  but  the  Lord  Jesus  hath  power  over 
my  body  and  soul ;  and  assure  yourselves  thus  much, 
you  do  as  much  as  in  you  lies  to  put  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  from  you,  and  if  you  go  on  in  this 
course  you  begin,  you  will  bring  a  curse  upon  you 
and  your  posterity,  and  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  hath 
spoken  it. 

"  The  case  is  altered,"  said  governor  Winthrop, 
«  and  I  see  a  marvelous  providence  of  God,  to  bring 
things  to  this  pass.  We  have  been  hearkening  about 
the  trial  of  this  thing,  and  now  the  mercy  of  God  by 
a  providence  hath  answered  our  desires,  and  made 
her  to  lay  open  herself  and  the  ground  of  these  dis- 
turbances to  be  by  revelations.  There  is  no  use  of 
the  ministry  of  the  word  nor  of  any  clear  call  of 


22 


AMERICAN    TRIALS. 


God  by  his  word,  but  the  groundwork  of  her  reve- 
lations is  the  immediate  revelation  of  the  spirit  and 
not  by  the  ministry  of  the  word  ;  and  that  is  the 
means  by  which  she  hath  very  much  abused  the  coun- 
try, that  they  shall  look  for  revelations  and  are  not 
bound  to  the  ministry  of  the  word,  but  God  will 
teach  them  by  immediate  revelations  ;  and  this  hath 
been  the  ground  of  all  these  tumults  and  troubles ; 
and  I  would  that  those  were  all  cut  off  from  us  that 
trouble  us,  for  this  is  the  thing  that  hath  been  the 
root  of  all  the  mischief." 

"  We  all  consent  with  you,"  was  the  almost  unan- 
imous response  of  the  court.  One  or  two  however 
were  not  satisfied.  One  spoke  in  her  favor  in  a  clear 
and  manly  style.  "  I  beseech  you,"  he  said,  in  con- 
clusion, "  do  not  speak  so  to  force  things  along,  for  I 
do  not  for  my  own  part  see  any  equity  in  the  court 
in  all  your  proceedings.  Here  is  no  law  of  God  that 
she  hath  broken,  nor  any  law  of  the  country  that  she 
hath  broken,  and  therefore  deserves  no  censure  ;  and 
if  she  say  that  the  elders  preach  as  the  apostles  did, 
why  they  preached  a  covenant  of  grace ;  and  what 
wrong  is  that  to  them,  for  it  is  without  question  that 
the  apostles  did  preach  a  covenant  of  grace,  though 
not  with  that  power,  till  they  received  the  manifesta- 
tion of  the  spirit ;  therefore,  I  pray,  consider  what  you 
do,  for  here  is  no  law  of  God  or  man  broken." 

He  was  listened  to  with  great  impatience,  and,  by 
nearly  a  unanimous  vote  of  the  court,  Mrs.  Hutch- 
inson  was  banished  out  of  the  liberties,  and  ordered 
to  be  imprisoned  till  she  was  sent  away.  The  go- 
vernor then  addressed  her. 


ANNE    HUTCHINSON.  23 

[x  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  the  sentence  of  the  court  you 
hear  is,  that  you  are  banished  from  out  of  our  juris- 
diction as  being  a  woman  not  fit  for  our  society  ; 
and  are  to  be  imprisoned  till  the  court  shall  send  you 


"I  desire  to  know,"  said  the  wretched  woman, 
"  wherefore  I  am  banished  ?  " 

"  Say  no  more,"  was  the  reply,  "  the  court  knows 
wherefore,  and  is  satisfied." 

The  sentence  was  then  recorded  :  "  Mrs.  Hutch- 
inson, the  wife  of  William  Hutchinson,  being  con- 
vented  for  traducing  the  ministers  and  their  ministry 
in  the  country,  she  declared  voluntarily  her  revela- 
tions, and  that  she  should  be  delivered  and  the  court 
ruined  with  their  posterity  ;  and  thereupon  was  ban- 
ished ;  and  in  the  meanwhile  was  committed  to  Mr. 
Joseph  Welde,  of  Roxbury,  until  the  court  shall 
dispose  of  her."  ' 

But  the  end  was  not  yet.  Anne  Hutchinson  had 
another  trial  to  undergo,  not  less  trying  to  her  feelings 

1  The  arbitrary  character  and  high  authority  of  the  general 
court  of  Massachusetts,  as  exhibited  in  this  trial,  are  worthy  of  ob- 
servation. Mr.  Washburn  has  given  an  interesting  account  of  the 
jurisdiction  of  this  court,  in  his  Judicial  History  of  Massachusetts. 
Until  the  year  163!>,  it  appears  to  have  exercised  the  whole  power, 
legislative  and  judicial,  of  the  colony  ;  and  to  have  held  jurisdiction, 
both  in  civil  and  criminal  matters.  Lechford,in  his  Plain  Dealing, 
written  about  1G40,  says,  that  "  in  the  general  court  are  tried  all 
actions,  civil  and  criminal,  and  also  ecclesiastical,  especially  touch- 
ing non  members,  and  they  say  that  in  the  general  and  quarterly 
courts,  they  have  the  power  of  parliament,  king's  bench,  common 
pleas,  chancery,  high  commission  and  star  chamber,  and  all  other 
courts  of  England."  "They  have  put  to  death,  banished,  fined 
men,  cut  off  men's  cars,  whipped,  imprisoned  men,  and  all  these  for 
ecclesiastical  and  civil  offences,  and  without  sufficient  record." 


24  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

than  the  one  just  concluded,  and  scarcely  less  impor- 
tant in  its  consequences.  By  consent  of  the  magis- 
trates, she  was  summoned  from  her  place  of  confine- 
ment, to  appear  before  the  church  in  Boston  of  which 
she  was  a  member.  Here,  in  the  presence  of  an 
assembly,  which  was  very  great  from  all  parts  of  the 
country,  she  was  called  upon  to  retract  no  less  than 
twenty-nine  errors  of  doctrine,  which  were  specifi- 
cally set  forth  and  read  to  her.  The  first,  that  the 
souls  of  men  are  mortal  by  generation,  but  become 
immortal  by  Christ's  purchase,  she  maintained  a  long 
time  in  the  face  of  the  church,  and  in  opposition  to 
all  the  ministers  ;  until,  at  length,  a  stranger  who  was 
present  explained  to  her  the  difference  between  the 
soul  and  the  life,  the  first  being  a  spiritual  substance, 
and  the  other  the  union  of  that  with  the  body,  when 
she  confessed  she  saw  more  light  than  before,  and 
acknowledged  her  error  on  this  point.  The  next 
erroneous  doctrine  was,  that  there  was  no  resurrec- 
tion of  the  body  ;  she  knew  not  how  Christ  could  be 
united  to  these  our  fleshy  bodies,  but  she  believed 
that  those  united  to  him  have  in  this  life  two  bodies, 
and  that  by  the  resurrection  of  the  body  was  meant 
our  union  with  Christ  here  and  hereafter.  Upon  this 
point,  they  could  not  convince  her  she  was  wrong  ; 
and  a  vote  of  admonition  was  passed  against  her, 
and  also  against  her  two  sons,  because  they  persisted 
in  defending  her,  Mr.  Cotton  "  laying  it  sadly  upon 
them,  that  they  would  give  way  to  their  natural 
affection,  as,  for  preserving  her  honor,  they  should 
make  a  breach  upon  the  honor  of  Christ,  and  up- 
on their  covenant  with  the  church,  and  withal  tear 


ANNE    HUTCHINSON.  25 

the  very  bowels  of  their  soul,  by  hardening  her  in 
her  sin."  ' 

The  spirit  of  this  remarkable  woman  at  length  be- 
gan to  fail.  She  felt  acutely  the  desertion  of  her 
early  friend,  Mr.  Cotton,  and  was  finally  prevailed 
upon  to  acknowledge  at  the  next  meeting,  that  she 
had  greatly  erred ;  that  she  had  slighted  the  magis- 
trates at  the  court,  and  also  the  elders  of  the  church ; 
and  she  confessed,  that  when  she  was  on  trial,  she 
looked  at  such  failings  as  she  apprehended  in  the 
magistrates'  proceedings,  without  having  regard  to  the 
place  they  were  in  ;  that  the  speeches  she  ,then  used 
about  her  revelations  were  rash  and  without  ground  ; 
and  she  desired  the  prayers  of  the  church. 

But  religious  intolerance  was  not  yet  satisfied  ;  the 
spirit  of  the  age  had  more  to  accomplish.  Simply  to 
reclaim  Mrs.  Hutchinson  from  her  errors  was  not, 
apparently,  the  object  in  view.  She  was  feared  by  the 
ministers  ;  she  had  been  banished  by  the  court ;  and 
some  way  must  be  devised  to  justify  her  excommuni- 
cation from  the  church.  Accordingly,  the  cunning 
but  not  unusual  course  seems  to  have  been  adopted 
by  her  opponents,  of  attributing  certain  inferences  to 
her  doctrines  as  their  legitimate  results,  and  then 
requiring  her  to  renounce  these  inferences.  But 
she  resolutely  and  firmly  denied,  that  she  ever  held 
such  sentiments ;  "  and  this  she  affirmed  with  such 
confidence  as  bred  great  astonishment  in  many." 

1  The  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  apparently  of 
heathen  origin,  though  incautiously  asserted  in  words  by  Christians 
of  many  communions,  I  am  glad  to  find  so  early  disputed  in  Mas- 
sachusetts.    Savage's  note  to  Winthrop,  i.  255. 
3 


26  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

She  was  earnestly  pressed  on  all  hands  "  not  to  stand 
so  obstinately  to  maintain  so  manifest  an  untruth  ;  " 
but  with  the  utmost  spirit,  she  refused  to  acknowledge 
that  she  had  ever  maintained  or  believed  the  opinions 
now  attributed  to  her,  and  she  was  thereupon  excom- 
municated as  a  liar !  She  was  commanded  to  depart 
out  of  the  assembly ;  and,  passing  the  threshold, 
she  said  ;  "  The  Lord  judge th  not  as  man  judgeth, 
better  to  be  cast  out  of  the  church  than  to  deny 
Christ."  "  Thus,"  says  a  writer  of  that  day,  "  it  hath 
pleased  the  Lord  tp  have  compassion  on  his  poor 
churches  here,  and  to  discover  this  great  impostor, 
an  instrument  of  satan  so  fitted  and  trained  to  his 
service  for  interrupting  the  passage  of  his  kingdom 
in  this  part  of  the  world,  and  poysoning  the  churches 
here  planted,  as  no  story  records  the  like  of  a  wo- 
man, since  that  mentioned  in  the  revelation."  ' 

Anne  Hutchinson  now  prepared  to  leave  Massa- 
chusetts. Meanwhile,  the  larger  number  of  her 
friends,  led  by  John  Clarke,  and  William  Codding- 
ton,  the  same  who  so  ably  defended  her  at  the  trial, 
proceeded  to  the  south,  designing  to  make  a  planta- 
tion on  Long  Island,  or  near  Delaware  Bay.  But 
Roger  Williams  welcomed  them  to  his  vicinity  ;  and, 
in  March,  1638,  his  own  influence  and  the  powerful 
name  of  Henry  Vane,  prevailed  with  Miantonomoh, 
the  chief  of  the  Narragansetts,  to  obtain  for  them  a 

1  Welde.  Cotton  Mather,  in  his  account  of  this  matter,  says : 
"  It  is  the  work  of  seducers,  that  they  lead  captive  silly  women  ; 
but  what  will  you  say  when  you  hear  of  subtle  women  becoming 
the  most  remarkable  of  seducers  ?  "  "  Indeed  a  poyson  does  never 
insinuate  so  quickly,  nor  operate  so  strongly,  as  when  women's 
milk  is  the  vehicle  wherein  'tis  given."  Magnalia,  vii.  3. 


ANNE    HUTCHINSON.  27 

gift  of  the  beautiful  island  of  Rhode  Island.  But 
Anne  Hutchinson  did  not  long  enjoy  the  protection 
of  the  free  and  liberal  institutions  established  by  this 
band  of  voluntary  exiles,  on  the  soil  which  they  owed 
to  the  benevolence  of  the  natives.  Recovering  from 
a  transient  dejection  of  mind, — I  adopt  the  language 
of  a  living  historian,  —  she  had  gloried  in  her  suffer- 
ings as  her  greatest  happiness  ;  and,  making  her  way 
through  the  forest,  she  traveled  by  land  to  the  settle- 
ment of  Roger  Williams,  and  from  thence  joined 
her  friends  on  the  island,  sharing  with  them  the  hard- 
ships of  early  emigrants.  Her  powerful  mind  still 
continued  its  activity  ;  young  men  from  the  colonies 
became  converts  to  her  opinions ;  and  she  excited 
such  admiration,  that  to  the  leaders  in  Massachusetts 
it  "  gave  cause  of  suspicion  of  witchcraft."  She  was 
in  a  few  years  left  a  widow,  but  was  blessed  with 
affectionate  children.  A  tinge  of  fanaticism  pervaded 
her  family  ;  one  of  her  sons,  and  Collins,  her  son-in- 
law,  had  ventured  to  expostulate  with  the  people  of 
Boston  on  the  wrongs  of  their  mother.  But  would 
the  Puritan  magistrates  of  that  day  tolerate  a  censure 
of  their  government?  Severe  imprisonment  for 
many  months  was  the  punishment  inflicted  on  the 
young  men  for  their  boldness.  Rhode  Island  itself 
seemed  no  longer  a  safe  place  of  refuge  ;  and  the 
whole  family  removed  beyond  New  Haven  to  East 
Chester,  in  the  territory  of  the  Dutch.  The  violent 
Kieft  had  provoked  an  insurrection  among  the  In- 
dians ;  in  1643,  the  house  of  Anne  Hutchinson  was 
attacked  and  set  on  fire  ;  herself,  her  son-in-law,  and 
all  their  family,  save  one  child,  perished  by  the  rude 
weapons  of  the  savages,  or  in  the  flames. 


28  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

Sucli  was  the  fate  of  Anne  Hutchinson  ;  a  woman 
of  extraordinary  energy,  comprehension  and  sagacity  ; 
in  many  of  her  religious  views  far  beyond  the  age  in 
which  she  lived ;  in  intellectual  ability,  superior  to 
her  sex.  It  was  probably  her  misfortune  to  be  craftily 
made  use  of  for  political  purposes,  to  sustain  the 
power  and  authority  of  Henry  Vane,  and  to  draw  the 
affections  of  the  people  from  those  who  were  their 
leaders  in  the  wilderness ;  and  her  religious  zeal  be- 
came mixed  up  with  political  strife.  The  effect 
upon  her  mind  of  the  encouragement  she  received 
from  those  in  authority  was  not  favorable.  The  ad- 
miration, which  was  expressed  for  the  depth  and  vigor 
of  her  reasoning  powers  seems  to  have  elevated  in  her 
apprehension  the  gifts  of  intellect  above  the  graces 
of  character ;  and  she  ventured  upon  extremes  of 
doctrinal  theology  and  fantastic  theories,  with  a  zeal 
and  enthusiasm  worthy  of  objects  more  fitting  for  her 
sex. 

The  merits  of  her  case  can  scarcely  be  fairly  judged 
of  at  the  present  day.  The  accounts  transmitted  to  us 
are  obscured  by  contemporary  prejudice  and  passion  ; 
but  it  is  impossible  to  doubt  that  she  was  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  women  of  that  or  any  other  age. 
Her  understanding  was  bold,  vigorous,  and  strong  ; 
her  perceptions  were  keen  ;  and  her  character,  ener- 
getic and  masculine,  was  not  deficient  in  the  graces 
which  adorn  the  female  sex.  Her  influence  upon 
the  colonists,  in  the  apprehension  of  the  fathers  of 
the  commonwealth,  was  dangerous  in  the  extreme ; 
and  they  "  saw  an  inevitable  necessity  to  rid  her 
away,  except  they  would  be  guilty  not  onely  of  their 


ANNE    HUTCHINSON.  29 

own  ruine  but  also  of  the  gospel."  Of  their  right  to 
banish  her  they  entertained  no  doubt ;  and  it  was  a 
right  they  had  frequently  exercised  on  other  occa- 
sions. The  pretence,  that  it  was  a  mere  civil  pro- 
ceeding for  the  preservation  of  the  authority  of  the 
magistrates  and  the  suppression  of  sedition,  without 
any  reference  to  religious  doctrine,  personal  ill-will,  or 
professional  jealousy,  will  not  bear  a  moment's  ex- 
amination. But  it  would  be  most  unjust  to  pronounce 
judgment  upon  it  by  the  lights  of  the  present  age ; 
or  to  visit  it  with  a  severity  of  condemnation,  which 
wrould  show  an  ignorance  of  the  difficulties,  spiritual 
and  natural,  with  which  the  fathers  of  New  England 
had  to  contend. 


TRIALS  OF  THE  QUAKERS 


BEFORE     THE 


GENERAL  COURT  AND  COURT  OF  ASSISTANTS, 
MASSACHUSETTS,  1656-1 661. 


The  legal  proceedings  against  the  quakers  by  the  colonists  of 
Massachusetts  Bay  were  quite  informal,  and  the  original  documents 
which  have  been  preserved,  are  few  and  incomplete.  It  is  impos- 
sible, therefore,  to  give  any  thing  more  than  a  general  statement 
respecting  these  trials.  The  following  account  of  them  is  derived 
from  the  records  of  the  general  court ;  the  papers  relating  to 
the  subject  in  the  archives  of  the  commonwealth,  and  the  early 
histories  of  the  period  referred  to.  Of  the  latter,  Bishope's  New 
England  Judged,  is  a  quaker  authority  of  great  weight.  It  was 
written  in  answer  to  a  declaration  of  the  general  court  made  in 
1659,  in  defence  of  their  proceedings.  The  first  part  of  it  was 
printed  in  10(51  ;  the  second  part  in  1GG7,  and  both  united  were  re- 
printed, with  some  abbreviation,  in  1703.  It  is  a  rare  book,  and  I 
am  indebted  for  a  copy  of  it  to  the  proprietors  of  the  Library  of 
Friends  in  Lynn.  Among  the  other  works  which  have  been  ex- 
amined are  Sewel's  History  of  the  Quakers,  London,  second  edition, 
1725 ;  Besse's  voluminous  Collection  of  the  Sufferings  of  the 
Quakers,  London,  1753  ;  Cotton  Mather's  Magnalia  ;  Hutchinson's, 
Hubbard's,  and  Neale's  Histories. 


TRIALS   OF  THE  QUAKERS. 


THE  "  people  called  quakers "  first  became  known 
as  a  distinct  religious  class  in  the  north  of  England, 
about  the  year  1644.  The  commencement  of  the  sect 
was  attended  with  scenes  of  turbulence  and  fanati- 
cism, not  unfrequent  with  the  harbingers  of  a  new 
religious  faith,  in  an  age  of  wild  and  fantastic  theo- 
ries. It  is  difficult  for  us,  in  the  calm  and  rational 
deportment  of  the  quakers  of  the  present  day,  to 
recognise  the  successors  of  those  extraordinary  en- 
thusiasts, who  first  received,  from  the  derision  of  the 
world,  the  title  which  has  since  become  their  sectarian 
denomination.  At  a  time  of  universal  religious  in- 
tolerance, their  doctrines  were  peculiarly  liable  to 
misconstruction  ;  and  from  the  first  they  were  looked 
upon  with  disapprobation  and  abhorrence  by  every 
other  religious  denomination.  Every  where  in  the 
old  world  they  were  exposed  to  persecution.  The 
codes  of  that  day  describe  them  as  an  "  abominable 


34  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

sect ;  "  and  "  their  principles  as  inconsistent  with  any 
kind  of  government."  Every  where  they  were  ex- 
posed to  perpetual  dangers  and  grievous  punishments. 
They  were  whipped,  imprisoned  with  felons ;  kept 
in  dungeons,  foul  and  gloomy ;  fined,  exiled,  sold 
into  colonial  bondage.  Nor  could  they  reasonably 
expect  a  better  reception  from  the  inhabitants  of 
New  England. 

The  colonists  of  Massachusetts  Bay  had  no  idea 
of  religious  toleration  ;  it  was  preached  against  as  a 
sin  in  rulers,  which  would  bring  down  the  judgments 
of  heaven  upon  the  land.  They  were  in  fact  a  cor- 
poration, existing  by  virtue  of  a  charter,  and  pos- 
sessed of  supreme  authority  for  the  purpose  of  car- 
rying into  effect  the  objects  of  the  grant.  Surrounded 
by  new  and  untried  difficulties,  and  far  removed  from 
the  restraining  influences  of  the  common  law  of 
England,  they  assumed  an  authority  inconsistent 
with  its  principles  ;  and  the  general  court  extend- 
ed its  jurisdiction  to  the  thoughts  as  well  as  the 
conduct  of  all  within  the  reach  of  its  power.  The 
government  was  founded  in  certain  religious  doctrines, 
a  denial  of  which  was  an  offence  against  the  state  of 
the  nature  of  treason.  That  a  part  of  their  number 
had  a  right  to  change  their  views  of  religious  doc- 
trine or  civil  government  never  entered  into  the 
apprehension  of  the  majority.  John  Wheelwright 
ventured  upon  extremes  and  was  convicted  of  sedi- 
tion ;  he  appealed  to  the  king  and  was  banished. 
Roger  Williams  met  the  same  fate.  Anne  Hutchin- 
son  ventured  to  doubt,  and  was  thrust  out  of  the 
jurisdiction  as  unfit  for  their  society.  Would  the 


THE     QUAKERS.  35 

colonists  be  less  lenient  towards  such  of  the  quakers 
as  first  reached  these  shores  ? 

When,  in  July,  1656,  Anne  Austin  and  Mary 
Fisher  arrived  in  the  road  against  Boston,  in  a  vessel 
from  Barbadoes,  their  trunks  were  searched  and  their 
books  burnt  by  the  hangman.  Other  indignities  they 
suffered,  for  which  there  was  no  authority  by  law ; 
and,  after  five  weeks  of  close  imprisonment,  they 
were  thrust  out  of  the  jurisdiction,  the  jailer  retain- 
ing their  beds  for  his  fees.1  Eight  other  quakers 
arriving  in  the  colony  were  immediately  imprisoned, 
and  sentence  of  banishment  was  passed  against  them 
all  by  the  court  of  assistants ;  the  master  of  the  ship 
in  which  they  came  being  required  to  take  them 
away.  At  this  time  there  was  no  law  whatever  re- 
specting quakers.  In  the  following  October,  a  law 
was  made  by  the  general  court,  which  recited,  that 
4  wjiereas  there  is  an  accursed  sect  of  heretics  lately 
risen  up  in  the  world,  which  are  commonly  called 
quakers,  who  take  upon  them  to  be  immediately  sent 
of  God,  and  infallibly  assisted  by  the  spirit,  to  speak 
and  write  blasphemous  opinions,  despising  govern- 


1  The  ambition  of  Mary  Fisher  became  enlarged  by  this  treat- 
ment, and  she  traveled  alone  to  Adrianople,  where,  coming  near 
the  grand  vizier's  camp,  she  sent  him  word  that  there  was  an  Eng- 
lish lady,  who  had  something  to  declare  from  the  Great  God  to  the 
great  Turk.  She  was  admitted  to  the  sultan  Mahomet  IV.,  deliv- 
ered her  message,  which  was  received  with  gravity,  and  suffered 
to  depart  "  without  hurt  or  scoff."  Bishope  remarks,  with  compla- 
cent sarcasm,  that  she  fared  better  among  heathens  than  among 
Christians.  He  probably  was  not  aware,  that  the  Turks  regard 
insane  persons  as  inspired.  Kelsey,  another  quaker,  experienced 
less  courtesy.  He  preached  in  the  streets  of  Constantinople,  and, 
by  advice  of  the  English  ambassador,  was  bastinadoed. 


36  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

ment,  and  the  order  of  God  in  church  and  common- 
wealth, speaking  evil  of  dignities,  .reproaching  and 
reviling  magistrates  and  ministers:)"  and  provided 
that  any  master  of  a  ship  bringJngany  known  quaker 
within  the  jurisdiction,  should  forfeit  one  hundred 
pounds,  and  should  give  security  to  carry  such  quak- 
ers  back  to  the  place  whence  he  brought  them ;  and 
on  the  arrival  of  such  quakers  they  were  to  be  se- 
verely whipped  and  confined  at  hard  labor  in  the 
house  of  correction.  By  a  subsequent  law,  persons 
who  should  entertain  quakers  were  liable  to  a  fine 
of  forty  shillings  for  every  hour's  entertainment. 
Any  person  defending  their  "pernicious  ways,"  or 
attending  their  meetings  was  also  liable  to  a  fine. 
Every  quaker,  after  the  first  conviction,  if  a  man, 
was  to  lose  one  ear,  and  the  second  time  the  other ; 
if  a  woman,  she  was  each  time  to  be  severely 
whipped  ;  and  for  the  third  offence  both  men  and 
women  were  to  have  their  tongues  bored  through 
with  a  red  hot  iron. 

Nearly  all  of  these  punishments  were  inflicted 
upon  quakers  at  different  times,  but  with  a  directly 
opposite  result  from  that  intended.1  They  con- 
strued these  severities  into  an  invitation  for  their 
presence,  and  their  numbers  increased  in  pro- 
portion to  the  excitement  against  them.  They 

1  The  following  warrant  was  actually  carried  into  execution. 
"To  the  marshal  general  or  his  deputy.  You  are  to  take  with 
you  the  executioner,  and  repair  to  the  house  of  correction,  and 
there  see  him  cut  off  the  right  ears  of  John  Copeland,  Christopher 
Holder,  and  John  Rouse,  quakers,  in  execution  of  the  sentence  of 
the  court  of  assistants,  for  the  breach  of  the  law,  entitled  '  Quak- 
ers.' Edward  Rawson,  Secretary." 


THE     QUAKERS.  37 

gloried  in  their  sufferings ;  they  were  anxious  for 
martyrdom.  Imprisoned,  flogged,  mutilated,  threat- 
ened with  punishments  yet  more  severe,  they  were 
thrust  out  of  the  colony,  but  returned  in  the  first 
vessels  they  could  obtain.  They  proclaimed  their 
doctrines,  with  a  bold  and  fearless  confidence  that 
astonished  the  people  ;  and  they  suffered  the  indig- 
nities and  cruel  punishments  inflicted  upon  them, 
with  such  mildness,  forbearance,  and  fortitude,  as 
convinced  many  of  the  reality  of  that  INNER  LIGHT 
by  which  they  professed  to  be  constantly  guided.  At 
the  same  time,  impartial  history  records,'  that  many 
of  the  sect,  which,  at  this  day,  is  remarkable  for  a 
guarded  composure  of  language,  an  elaborate  still- 
ness, precision,  and  propriety  of  demeanor,  were  at 
the  time  referred  to  guilty  of  conduct,  "  which  the 
experience  of  a  rational  and  calculating  age  finds  it 
difficult  to  conceive."  They  openly  denounced  the 
government  of  New  England  as  treason.  They  re- 
viled at  all  orders  of  magistrates  and  every  civil  in- 
stitution. They  stigmatized  a  regular  priesthood  as 
a  priesthood  of  Baal.  Some  of  them,  in  the  appre- 
hension of  the  colonists,  were  guilty  of  the  most 
revolting  blasphemy  against  the  sacraments,  which 
they  termed  carnal  and  idolatrous  observances.  They 
interrupted  public  worship  in  a  manner  as  indecent 
as  it  was  illegal  and  unbecoming.  The  female 
preachers  exceeded  their  male  associates  in  these 
acts  of  frenzy  and  folly,  and  excited  the  utmost 
disgust  among  a  people  remarkable  for  their  staid 
and  sober  deportment. 

The   colonists,  incensed   beyond  measure  at  this 
4 

0,1  ion 


38  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

conduct,  and,  alarmed  at  the  swarms  of  quakers  who 
were  intruding  themselves  upon  them,  threatened  them 
with  new  punishments,  the  intolerable  severity  of 
which  defeated  their  own  objects.  The  government  of 
Rhode  Island,  more  wise  than  that  of  Massachusetts, 
though  having  the  same  horror  of  this  sect,  declined 
to  pass  laws  against  it.  "  For  we  find,"  they  said  in  a 
letter  !  to  the  general  court,  "  that  in  those  places  where 
these  people  aforesaid,  in  this  colony,  are  most  of  all 
suffered  to  declare  themselves  freely,  and  are  only  op- 
posed by  arguments  in  discourse,  there  they  least  of  all 
desire  to  come,  and  we  are  informed,  that  they  begin 
to  loathe  this  place,  for  that  they  are  not  opposed  by 
the  civil  authority,  but  with  all  patience  and  meek- 
ness are  suffered  to  say  over  their  pretended  revela- 
tions and  admonitions,  nor  are  they  like  or  able  to 
gain  many  here  to  their  way ;  and  surely  we  find 
that  they  delight  to  be  persecuted  by  civil  powers, 
and  when  they  are  so,  they  are  like  to  gain  more  ad- 
herents by  the  conseyte  of  their  patient  sufferings, 
than  by  consent  to  their  pernicious  sayings." 

In  October,  1658,  a  law  was  introduced  into  the 
general  court,  providing  that  every  person  of  the 
"  cursed  sect  of  the  quakers,"  who  should  be  found 
within  the  jurisdiction,  should  be  immediately  im- 
prisoned without  bail  until  the  next  court  of  assistants,* 

1  It  was  written  in  answer  to  a  letter  from  the  commissioners  of 
the  United  Colonies.     The  original  is  in  possession  of  the  Massa- 
chusetts Historical  Society. 

2  This  court  was  composed  of  the  "  governor,  deputy  governor, 
and  the  rest  of  the  magistrates,"  and  corresponded  to  the  present 
"  governor  and  council."     Its  jurisdiction  was  about  as  extensive 
in  judicial  matters  as  that  of  the  general  court. 


THE     QUAKERS.  39 

at  which  they  should  have  a  legal  trial,  and,  being 
convicted  to  be  of  the  sect  of  the  quakers,  should 
be  banished  on  pain  of  death/  This  law  met  with 
great  opposition  and  was~"St  first  rejected ;  but,  up- 
on a  reconsideration,  it  was  passed  by  a  majority 
of  one  vote,  with  an  amendment  that  the  trial  should 
be  by  a  special  jury.  It  met  the  strong  disapproba- 
tion of  sensible  men  in  Massachusetts  and  in  the 
other  colonies.  Two  members  of  the  court  entered 
their  dissent  against  it ;  and  one  other  who  was  de- 
tained at  home  by  sickness  would  have  voted  against 
it,  and  thus  have  prevented  its  passage.  The  younger 
Winthrop,  governor  of  Connecticut,  expressed  much 
disapprobation  at  such  an  extreme  proceeding,  and 
made  great  exertions  to  prevent  the  law  from  being 
carried  into  effect. 

There  was  no  lack  of  victims.  Three  persons 
were  found  within  the  jurisdiction,  who  had  notori- 
ously violated  the  law,  and  they  were  immediately 
imprisoned.  Of  these,  Mary  Dyer,  an  antinomian 
exile,  had  twenty  years  before  left  the  colony  with 
Anne  Hutchinson.  Marmaduke  Stephenson,  pre- 
vious to  his  banishment,  had  made  a  disturbance  in 
Boston.  He  acknowledged  himself  to  be  a  quaker, 
and  declared,  that  in  the  year  1656,  at  Shipton,  in 
Yorkshire,  as  he  was  at  the  plough,  he  heard  an  au- 
dible voice  ordaining  him  to  be  a  prophet  to  the  na- 
tions. William  Robinson  was  from  London.  At 
his  first  examination,  he  was  sentenced  to  be  whipped 
twenty  stripes,  for  abusing  the  court.  These  three 
having  been  banished  on  pain  of  death,  by  the  court 
of  assistants,  Mary  Dyer  was  claimed  by  her  husband 


40  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

and  taken  back  to  Rhode  Island.  The  other  two,  hav- 
ing come  within  the  colony  for  the  purpose  of  offering 
up  their  lives,  determined  not  to  depart ;  "  so  they  went 
to  Salem  and  some  place  thereabout  to  visit  and  build 
up  their  friends  in  the  faith."  As  the  time  drew 
near  for  the  court  to  sit,  when  they  knew  they  would 
be  tried  for  their  lives,  they  went  to  Boston,  and  with 
them  Alice  Cowland,  "  who  came  to  bring  linen 
wherein  to  wrap  the  dead  bodies  of  them  who  were 
to  suffer ; "  and  others  who  desired  to  accompany 
the  sufferers  to  the  end.  Mary  Dyer  also  returned 
from  Rhode  Island ;  and  the  .three  who  had  thus  in- 
curred the  penalty  of  the  law  were  brought  before 
the  general  court  on  the  19th  of  October,  1659,  "  for 
sedition  and  presumptuous  obtruding  themselves  upon 
us,  notwithstanding  their  being  sentenced  to  banish- 
ment on  pain  of  death."  They  acknowledged  them- 
selves to  be  quakers  who  had  been  banished  on  pain 
of  death,  and,  on  the  next  day,  they  were  all  con- 
demned to  die. 

When  Robinson  was  sentenced  he  offered  a  paper 
containing  a  statement,  that  while  he  was  in  Rhode 
Island,  the  Lord  commanded  him  to  go  to  Boston 
and  lay  down  his  life  there  ;  that  he  durst  not  but 
obey  without  inquiring  further  concerning  it,  believ- 
ing that  it  became  him  as  a  child  to  show  obedience 
to  the  Lord  without  any  unwillingness  ;  therefore 
he  remained  in  their  jurisdiction.  Stephenson  as- 
serted, that  he  was  commanded  by  the  Lord  to  leave 
his  wife  and  children  and  be  a  prophet  to  the  nations. 
He  first  went  to  Barbadoes,  but  hearing  that  a  law 
had  been  made  in  New  England,  to  put  the  servants 


THE     QUAKERS.  41 

of  the  living  God  to  death  if  they  returned  from 
banishment,  as  he  considered  the  thing  and  pon- 
dered it  in  his  heart,  immediately  there  came  the 
word  of  the  Lord  unto  him  saying,  "  thou  knowest 
not  but  thou  mayest  go  thither."  Soon  afterward 
the  word  of  the  Lord  came  to  him  saying,  "  go  to 
Boston  with  thy  friend  William  Robinson  ; "  and  he 
obeyed  the  command  not  in  his  own  will  but  in  the 
will  of  God.  Sentence  of  death  was  then  recorded 
against  the  prisoners  and  they  were  remanded  to  jail. 
The  record  of  these  proceedings  is  as  follows. 
"  William  Robinson,  Marmaduke  Stephenson,  and 
Mary  Dyer,  banished  this  jurisdiction  by  the  last 
court  of  assistants,  on  pain  of  death,  being  com- 
mitted by  order  of  the  general  court,  were  sent 
for,  brought  to  the  bar,  acknowledged  themselves 
to  be  the  persons  banished  ;  after  a  full  hearing  of 
what  the  prisoners  could  say  for  themselves,  it  was 
put  to  the  question,  whether  William  Robinson,  Mar- 
maduke Stephenson,  and  Mary  Dyer,  the  persons 
now  in  prison,  who  have  been  convicted  for  quakers, 
and  banished  this  jurisdiction  on  pain  of  death,  should 
be  put  to  death  according  as  the  law  provides  in  that 
case  ?  The  court  resolved  this  question  in  the  affirm- 
ative ;  and  the  governor  in  open  court  declared  the 
sentence  to  William  Robinson  that  was  first  to  the 
bar  ;  '  William  Robinson,  you  shall  go  from  hence  to 
the  place  from  whence  you  came,  and  from  thence 
to  the  place  of  execution,  and  there  and  then  hang 
till  you  be  dead.'  The  like  sentence  the  governor 
in  open  court  pronounced  against  Marmaduke  Ste- 
•  phenson  and  Mary  Dyer,  being  brought  to  the  bar. 
4* 


42  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

"  Whereas  William  Robinson,  Marmaduke  Ste- 
phenson,  and  Mary  Dyer  are  sentenced  by  this  court 
to  death  for  their  rebellion,  &c. ;  it  is  ordered,  that 
the  secretary  issue  out  his  warrant  to  Edward  Mitch- 
elson,  marshal  general,  for  repairing  to  the  prison  on 
the  twenty-seventh  of  this  instant  October,  and  take 
the  said  William  Hutchinson,  Marmaduke  Stephen- 
son,  and  Mary  Dyer  into  his  custody;  and  then, 
forthwith,  by  the  aid  of  Capt.  James  Oliver,  with  one 
hundred  soldiers  taken  out  by  his  order  proportion- 
ately out  of  each  company  in  Boston,  completely 
armed  with  pike  and  musketeers  with  powder  and 
bullet,  to  lead  them  to  the  place  of  execution,  and 
there  see  them  hang  till  they  be  dead.  And  in  their 
going,  and  being  there  and  return,  to  see  all  things 
be  carried  peaceably  and  orderly.  Warrants  issued 
accordingly.  It  is  ordered  that  Mr.  Zachariah  Symmes 
and  Mr.  John  Norton  repair  to  the  prison  and  render 
their  endeavors  to  make  the  prisoners  sensible  of  their 
approaching  danger  by  the  sentence  of  this  court  and 
prepare  them  for  their  approaching  end." 

On  the  afternoon  of  October  22d,  the  prisoners 
were  led  forth  to  execution,  surrounded  by  a  guard 
of  armed  men  and  several  horsemen,  with  drums  beat- 
ing to  prevent  the  multitude  from  hearing  any  thing 
they  might  say.  "  Glorious  signs  of  heavenly  joy 
and  gladness  were  beheld  in  the  countenances  of 
those  three  persons,  who  walked  hand  in  hand,  Mary 
being  the  middlemost."  Nothing  could  exceed  the 
exultation  with  which  they  went  forth  to  die ;  and 
they  called  on  all  to  witness  that  they  suffered  for  the 
cause  of  truth.  "  This,"  said  Mary  Dyer,  "  is  an 


THE     QUAKERS.  43 

hour  of  the  greatest  joy  I  ever  knew,  no  ear  can 
hear,  no  tongue  can  utter,  and  no  heart  can  under- 
stand the  sweet  refreshings  of  the  spirit  of  the  Lord 
which  I  now  feel."  The  last  words  of  Robinson 
were,  "  I  suffer  for  Christ  in  whom  I  live  and  for 
whom  I  die."  Stephenson  said,  "  This  day  shall  we 
be  at  rest  with  the  Lord."  Mary  Dyer  saw  her  two 
companions  die  before  her  eyes  ;  and  ascended  the 
ladder  to  meet  her  own  fate.  Every  thing  was 
ready  ;  the  rope  adjusted  to  her  neck,  her  extremities 
tied  and  her  face  covered,  when  a  faint  shout  was 
heard  in  the  distance,  which  grew  stronger  and 
stronger,  and  was  soon  caught  and  repeated  by  a 
hundred  willing  hearts.  "  A  reprieve,  a  reprieve," 
was  the  cry,  and  the  execution  was  stopped  ;  but  she, 
whose  mind  was  intently  fastened  on  another  world, 
cried  out,  that  she  desired  to  suffer  with  her  brethren, 
unless  the  magistrates  would  repeal  their  wicked 
law. 

She  was  saved  by  the  intercession  of  her  son,  but 
on  the  express  condition  that  she  should  be  carried 
to  the  place  of  execution  and  stand  upon  the  gallows 
with  a  rope  about  her  neck,  and  then  be  carried  out 
of  the  colony.  She  was  accordingly  taken  home  to 
Rhode  Island  ;  but  her  resolution  was  still  unshaken, 
and  she  was  again  moved  to  return  to  the  "bloody 
town  of  Boston,"  where  she  arrived  in  the  spring  of 
1660.  This  determination  of  a  feeble  and  aged  wo- 
man, to  brave  all  the  terrors  of  their  laws,  might  well 
fill  the  magistrates  with  astonishment ;  but  the  pride 
of  consistency  had  already  involved  them  in  acts  of 
extreme  cruelty,  and  they  thought  it  impossible  now 


44  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

to  recede.  The  other  executions  were  considered 
acts  of  stern  necessity,  and  caused  much  discontent; 
a  hope  was  entertained  till  the  last  moment,  that  the 
condemned  would  consent  to  depart  from  the  juris- 
diction ;  and  when  Mary  Dyer  was  sent  for  by  the 
court,  after  her  second  return,  governor  Endicott  said, 
"  are  you  the  same  Mary  Dyer  that  was  here  before  ? " 
giving  her  an  opportunity  to  escape  by  a  denial  of 
the  fact,  there  having  been  another  of  the  name  re- 
turned from  England.  But  she  would  make  no  eva- 
sion. "  I  am  the  same  Mary  Dyer  that  was  here  the 
last  general  court."  "  You  will  own  yourself  a 
quaker,  will  you  not  ? "  "I  own  myself  to  be  re- 
proachfully called  so  ; "  and  she  was  sentenced  to  be 
hanged  on  the  morning  of  the  next  day.  "  This  is 
no  more  than  thou  saidst  before,"  was  her  intrepid 
reply,  when  the  sentence  of  death  was  pronounced. 
"  But  now,"  said  the  governor,  "  it  is  to  be  executed ; 
therefore  prepare  yourself,  for  tomorrow  at  nine 
o'clock,  you  die !  "  "  I  came,"  was  the  reply,  "  in 
obedience  to  the  will  of  God,  the  last  general  court, 
desiring  you  to  repeal  your  unrighteous  laws  of  ban- 
ishment on  pain  of  death ;  and  the  same  is  my  work 
now,  and  earnest  request ;  although  I  told  you  if 
you  refused  to  repeal  them,  the  Lord  would  send 
others  of  his  servants  to  witness  against  them." 

At  the  appointed  time  on  the  next  day,  she  was 
brought  forth,  and,  with  a  band  of  soldiers,  led 
through  the  town,  about  a  mile  to  the  place  of  exe- 
cution,1 the  drums  beating  before  and  behind  her  the 

1  These  executions  are  supposed  to  have  taken  place  on  Bos- 
ton common,  probably  near  where  the  Hollis  street  church  now 
stands. 


THE     QUAKERS.  45 

whole  distance.  When  she  was  upon  the  gallows,  it 
was  told  her,  that  if  she  would  return  home,  she 
might  come  down  and  save  her  life.  To  which  she 
replied,  "  Nay,  I  cannot,  for  in  obedience  to  the  will 
of  the  Lord  I  came,  and  in  his  will  I  abide  faithful 
unto  the  death."  Another  said,  that  she  had  been 
there  before  ;  she  had  the  sentence  of  banishment 
upon  pain  of  death,  and  had  broken  the  law  in 
coming  again  now,  and,  therefore,  she  was  guilty  of 
her  own  blood.  "  Nay,"  she  answered,  "  I  came  to 
keep  bloodguiltiness  from  you,  desiring  you  to 
repeal  the  unrighteous  and  unjust  law  of  banishment 
upon  pain  of  death,  made  against  the  innocent  ser- 
vants of  the  Lord  ;  therefore,  my  blood  will  be  re- 
quired at  your  hands,  who  wilfully  do  it ;  but  for 
those  who  do  it  in  the  simplicity  of  their  hearts,  I 
desire  the  Lord  to  forgive  them.  I  came  to  do  the 
will  of  my  father,  and  in  obedience  to  his  will  I  stand 
even  to  death."  A  minister  who  was  present  then 
said,  "  Mary  Dyer,  repent,  O  repent,  and  be  not  so 
deluded  and  carried  away  by  the  deceit  of  the  devil." 
But  she  answered,  "  Nay,  man,  I  am  not  now  to 
repent."  She  was  then  asked  to  have  the  elders 
pray  for  her ;  but  she  said,  "  I  know  never  an  elder 
here  ;  "  she  added  that  she  desired  the  prayers  of  all 
the  people  of  God.  "  Perhaps,"  said  one  scoffingly, 
"  she  thinks  there  is  none  here."  Then  looking 
round  she  said,  "  I  know  but  few  here."  Being 
again  asked  to  have  one  of  the  elders  pray  for  her, 
she  said,  "  Nay,  first  a  child,  then  a  young  man,  then 
a  strong  man,  before  an  elder  in  Christ  Jesus."  She 
spoke  of  the  other  world  and  of  the  eternal  happi- 


46  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

ness  into  which  she  was  about  to  enter  ;  and  "  in  this 
well-disposed  condition  was  turned  off,  and  died  a 
martyr  of  Christ,  being  twice  led  to  death,  which  the 
first  time  she  expected  with  undaunted  courage,  and 
now  suffered  with  Christian  fortitude."  "  She  hangs 
as  a  flag  for  others  to  take  example  by,"  said  a  mem- 
ber of  the  court,  as  the  lifeless  body  hung  suspended 
from  the  gallows.1 

William  Leddra  was  the  next  who  suffered  for  a 
violation  of  this  law.  After  several  severe  whippings 
and  a  tedious  imprisonment,  he  had  been  banished  on 
pain  of  death,  but  soon  returned  and  appeared  pub- 
licly in  Boston ;  he  was  immediately  seized  and 
chained  to  a  log  of  wood  in  prison,  where  he  suffered 
much  from  the  cold  during  the  winter  months.  In 
March,  1661,  he  was  brought  to  trial  before  the  court 
of  assistants,  in  Boston.  His  offence  of  being  a 
quaker,  and  returning  after  banishment  on  pain  of 
death,  was  stated  to  him,  when  he  demanded  what 
evil  he  had  done.  The  reply  was  that  he  had  abused 
authority  ;  he  had  refused  to  take  off  his  hat  in  court, 
and  would  say  "  thee  "  and  "  thou."  "  Will  you  put 
me  to  death,"  he  asked,  "  for  speaking  good  English, 
and  for  not  putting  off  my  clothes  ? "  "A  man  may 
speak  treason  in  good  English."  "  Is  it  treason  to 
say  '  thee  '  and  ( thou '  to  a  single  person  ?  "  "  Will 

1  Probably  the  person  who  made  this  remark,  and,  who,  tradition 
says,  was  himself  cut  off  by  an  untimely  end,  had  not  forgotten  the 
antinomian  controversy,  in  which  Mary  Dyer  became  obnoxious 
twenty  years  before.  She  left  the  colony  with  Anne  Hutchinson; 
and  is  the  same  person  of  whom  Welde,  in  his  Short  Story,  tells  such 
monstrous  tales,  which  are  complacently  repeated  by  Cotton  Ma- 
ther in  the  Magnalia,  book  vii.  chapter  3. 


THE     QUAKERS.  47 

you  return  to  England  ? "  demanded  Broadstreet. 
"  I  have  no  business  there,"  was  the  reply.  "  Then 
you  shall  go  that  way,"  pointing  to  the  gallows. 
"  Will  you  put  me  to  death  for  breathing  in  the  air 
of  your  jurisdiction  ?  What  have  you  against  me  ? 
I  appeal  to  the  laws  of  England  for  my  trial.  If  by 
them  I  am  guilty,  I  refuse  not  to  die."  But  twenty 
years  before  it  had  been  "  accounted  perjury  and  trea- 
son to  speak  of  appeals  to  the  king,"  and  a  sneering 
remark  was  made  on  the  present  occasion,  which  was 
long  remembered  by  Charles  II.,  whose  royal  ear  it 
soon  reached.  "  This  year  you  appeal  to  England ; 
the  next,  parliament  will  send  over  to  inquire ;  and 
the  third  year,  the  government  of  England  will  be 
changed." 

At  that  moment,  Winlock  Christison,  another  ban- 
ished quaker,  suddenly  and  most  unexpectedly  entered 
the  court,  and  took  his  stand  by  the  side  of  the  pris- 
oner, striking  dismay  into  the  minds  of  all  the  magis- 
trates, and  for  a  time  interrupting  the  proceedings  of 
the  court.  "  Are  you  not  the  Winlock  Christison 
who  was  banished  on  pain  of  death  ?  "  demanded  the 
governor.  "  Yea,  I  am."  "  What  dost  thou  here 
then  ?  "  "I  am  come  here,"  was  the  answer,  "  to  warn 
you  that  you  should  shed  no  more  innocent  blood ; 
for  the  blood  that  you  have  shed  already,  cries  to  the 
Lord  God  for  vengeance  to  come  upon  you."  He 
was  immediately  committed  to  prison ;  and  Leddra 
was  offered  his  life,  if  he  would  promise  to  depart 
and  return  no  more.  Refusing  this,  sentence  of 
death  was  passed  upon  him,  to  take  effect  on  the 
14th  of  March. 


48  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

On  the  day  previous  to  his  execution,  he  wrote  a 
long  farewell  letter  to  his  friends,  in  which  he  said  : 
"  The  sweet  influences  of  the  morning  star,  like  a  flood 
distilling  into  my  innocent  habitation,  hath  so  filled  me 
with  the  joy  of  the  Lord  in  the  beauty  of  holiness, 
that  my  spirit  is  as  if  it  did  not  inhabit  a  tabernacle 
of  clay,  but  is  wholly  swallowed  up  in  the  bosom  of 
eternity,  from  whence  it  had  its  being."  After  a 
morning  lecture  on  the  14th  of  March,  the  governor 
and  a  guard  of  soldiers  came  to  the  prison,  where 
the  prisoner's  irons  were  removed,  and  he  took  leave 
of  his  fellow  prisoners.  Arrived  at  the  gallows,  a 
stranger  among  the  crowd,  who  had  just  come  by 
sea,  was  deeply  affected,  and  endeavored  to  interrupt 
the  proceedings.  "  For  God's  sake,"  he  cried,  ad- 
dressing the  multitude  in  a  loud  voice,  "  take  not 
away  the  man's  life  ;  but  remember  Gamaliel's  coun- 
sel to  the  Jews.  If  this  be  of  man,  it  will  come  to 
naught,  but  if  it  be  of  God,  ye  cannot  overthrow  it : 
but  be  careful  ye  be  not  found  fighters  of  God." 
The  captain  of  the  guard  bade  him  hold  his  peace, 
and  he  departed  with  tears,  telling  them  they  had  no 
warrant  from  the  word  of  God,  nor  power  from  the 
king,  to  hang  the  man.  When  the  executioner  was 
adjusting  the  rope  to  Leddra's  neck,  he  was  heard  to 
say,  "  I  commit  my  righteous  cause  unto  thee,  O  God." 
The  last  words  he  uttered,  were,  "  Lord  Jesus,  re- 
ceive my  spirit."  The  crowd  at  length  dispersed,  but 
a  few  friends  of  the  deceased  who  remained  caught 
the  body  in  their  arms  when  it  was  cut  down ;  and, 
after  the  executioner  had  stript  it  of  the  clothing, 
they  were  permitted  to  pay  the  last  tribute  of  affec- 
tion to  the  remains  of  their  friend. 


THE     QUAKERS.  49 

When  Winlock  Christison  was  brought  to  trial,  he 
addressed  the  court  with  undaunted  courage.  "  By 
what  law  will  you  put  me  to  death  ?  "  "  We  have  a 
law  and  by  that  law  you  are  to  die."  "  Who  author- 
ized you  to  make  that  law  ? "  "  We  have  a  patent 
which  gives  us  the  power."  "  Have  you  authority 
to  make  laws  repugnant  to  the  laws  of  England?" 
"  No."  "  Then  you  are  gone  beyond  your  bounds. 
If  the  king  did  but  know  your  hearts  as  God  knows 
them,  he  would  see  that  they  are  as  rotten  towards  him 
as  they  are  towards  God.  You  and  I  are  subjects  of  the 
king,  and  I  demand  to  be  tried  by  the  laws  of  my  own 
nation.  There  is  no  law  in  England  to  hang  quakers." 
"  But  there  is  a  law  of  England  to  hang  Jesuits."  "  If 
you  put  me  to  death,  it  is  not  because  I  go  under  the 
name  of  a  Jesuit,  but  of  a  quaker.  I  appeal  to  my 
own  nation."  "  You  have  broken  our  law,"  was  the 
reply,  "  and  we  shall  try  you."  The  jury  immedi- 
ately returned  a  verdict  of  guilty  ;  but  the  magistrates 
were  divided  in  pronouncing  sentence.1  The  gover- 
nor was  irritated  at  their  wavering,  and  on  a  second 
vote  there  appeared  a  majority  for  the  doom  of  death. 
"  What  do  you  gain  by  it  ?  "  said  the  prisoner,  "  do 
not  think  to  weary  out  the  living  God  by  taking  away 
the  lives  of  his  servants.  For  the  last  man  that  you 
have  put  to  death,  here  are  five  come  in  his  room. 
If  ye  have  power  to  take  my  life,  God  can  raise  up 
the  same  principles  of  life  in  ten  of  his  servants,  and 


1  Probably  this  hesitation  arose  from  the  fact  that  a  letter  was 
received   by  the  court  during  the  trial,  from  Edward  Wharton, 
another  banished  quaker,  stating  that  he  had  returned  and  was  in 
Salem.     He  was  not  sent  for  by  the  court. 
5 


50  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

send  them  among  you  in  my  room,  that  you  may 
have  torment  upon  torment,  which  is  your  portion  ; 
for  there  is  no  peace  to  the  wicked,  saith  my  God." 
He  was  then  remanded  to  prison,  and  at  the  next 
general  court,  in  June,  1661,  his  case  again  came  up 
and  the  following  record  exhibits  the  result.  "  The 
court,  having  considered  what  Wendlock  Christo- 
pherson  could  say  for  himself,  in  reference  to  his  ap- 
peal from  the  judgment  and  sentence  of  the  court  of 
assistants  in  March  last,  being  brought  to  the  bar, 
judge  meet  to  order  that  the  governor  pronounce 
sentence  of  death  against  him  in  open  court,  and  to 
declare,  that  the  time  of  his  execution  shall  be  on 
the  thirteenth  day  of  this  month  of  June,  presently 
after  the  lecture,  by  warrant  from  the  governor. 
Provided,  nevertheless,  that  if  the  said  Christopher- 
son,  any  time  before  his  execution,  shall  desire  the 
court's  favor,  and,  by  a  writing  under  his  hand,  en- 
gage that  he  will  forthwith  depart  this  jurisdiction, 
and  from  thenceforth  return  no  more  into  it,  without 
first  having  obtained  leave  from  the  general  court  or 
council ;  he  shall  thereupon  be  discharged.  The 
governor  in  open  court,  the  prisoner  being  at  the  bar, 
pronounced  sentence  of  death  against  him,  and  ac- 
quainted him  of  the  court's  favor."  The  prisoner 
accepted  the  clemency  of  the  court  upon  their  own 
terms,  and  was  discharged.1 


1  Besse  arid  other  quaker  writers  represent  Christison  as  remain- 
ing firm  to  the  last,  and  the  court  as  releasing  him  through  timidity  ; 
but  the  following,  copied  from  the  original,  which  is  still  preserved 
in  the  archives  of  the  commonwealth,  places  the  matter  right.  "  I, 
the  condemned  man,  do  give  forth  under  my  hand,  that  if  I  may 


THE     QUAKERS.  51 

At  the  same  session  of  the  general  court,  the  fol- 
lowing order  was  passed  respecting  two  persons  who 
refused  to  plead.  "  Judah  '  Browne  and  Peter  Pierson 
having  been  indicted  at  the  last  court  of  assistants 
for  quakers,  and  there  standing  mute,  and  refusing 
to  give  any  answer,  and  being  bound  over  to  this 
court  to  answer  their  contempt,  and  here  standing 
mute  also,  the  court  judge th  it  meet  to  order,  that 
they  shall  by  the  constable  of  Boston  be  forthwith 
taken  out  of  the  prison  and  stript  from  the  girdle 
upward  by  the  executioner,  and  tied  to  the  cart's 
tail,  and  whipt  through  the  town  with  twenty  stripes  ; 
and  then  carried  to  Roxbury  and  delivered  to  the 
constable  there,  who  is  also  to  tie  them,  or  cause 
them  in  like  manner  to  be  tied  to  a  cart's  tail,  and 
again  whip^them  through  the  town  with  ten  stripes, 
and  then  carried  to  Dedham  and  delivered  to  the 
constable  there,  who  is  again  in  like  manner  to  cause 
them  to  be  tied  to  the  cart's  tail  and  whipped  with 
ten  stripes  through  the  town,  and  from  thence 

have  my  liberty,  and  have  freedom  to  depart  this  jurisdiction  ;  I 
know  not  that  I  shall  come  into  it  any  more.  From  the  gaol  in 
Boston,  7th  day  of  the  4th  month.  Winlock  Christison."  The 
order  of  the  general  court,  as  entered  on  the  records,  was  as  follows : 
"  Upon  the  motion  of  Wendlock  Christopherson,  the  prisoner 
making  known  his  freedom  to  depart  this  jurisdiction ;  the  court 
grants  and  orders  him  his  liberty,  he  departing  this  government 
when  he  shall  be  let  out  of  prison  as  soon  as  may  be."  The  name 
of  this  prisoner  is  called  Christopherson  on  the  records,  and  by 
Hutchinson.  The  early  quaker  writers  call  him  Christison,  and  he 
so  called  himself,  as  appears  by  his  signature  above. 

1  Bishope  and  Besse  call  this  person  Judith  Brown.  They  are 
followed  by  Mr.  Abel  Gushing,  in  his  Letters  on  the  First  Charter, 
Boston,  1839.  The  name  is  Judah  on  the  records  of  the  court  and 
in  the  original  warrant. 


52  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

they  are  immediately  to  depart  this  jurisdiction  at 
their  peril."  Immediately  after  this  order  on  the 
records  of  the  general  court,  without  the  separation 
of  a  line,  there  is  an  order  by  the  court  for  a  day  of 
thanksgiving  to  Almighty  God,  on  the  4th  of  July, 
1661,  "  for  the  many  favors  wherewith  He  hath  been 
pleased  to  compass  us  about  for  so  many  years  past 
in  this  remote  wilderness !  " 

These  executions  of  quakers  had  caused  the  utmost 
dissatisfaction  in  Massachusetts,  and  the  magistrates 
became  conscious  of  their  mistake.  Public  sympathy 
was  turned  towards  the  sufferers  ;  and  the  court  were 
obliged  to  take  strong  measures  to  keep  away  the 
crowds  of  citizens,  who  constantly  thronged  the  win- 
dows of  the  prison  where  they  were  confined.  At 
every  execution,  a  large  body  of  armed  men  was  in 
attendance  to  prevent  disturbance,  and  soldiers  were 
left  to  guard  the  town  "  while  the  rest  of  the  citizens 
went  to  the  execution."  Meanwhile,  accounts  of 
these  proceedings  had  been  carried  by  quakers  to  the 
ears  of  king  Charles,  and  of  the  contempt  which  had 
been  expressed  for  his  government  at  the  trial  of 
Leddra.  That  monarch,  who  had  other  reasons  for 
being  dissatisfied  with  the  colonists,  immediately 
granted  a  mandamus  directed  to  all  the  governors  of 
New  England,  requiring  them  to  proceed  no  farther 
as  to  corporeal  punishments  against  quakers,  but  to 
send  them  to  England,  with  their  respective  crimes 
specifically  set  forth,  to  the  end,  that  they  might  be 
disposed  of  according  to  law.  The  quakers  in  Lon- 
don immediately  chartered  a  vessel,  and,  the  manda- 
mus being  committed  to  Samuel  Shattock,  who  had 


THE     QUAKERS.  53 

been  banished  from  Massachusetts  on  pain  of  death, 
he  arrived  in  the  harbor  of  Boston,  in  six  weeks. 
The  king's  messenger  and  the  commander  of  the 
ship  landed  on  the  day  after  their  arrival,  and  pro- 
ceeded directly  to  the  governor's  house.  Admitted 
to  his  presence,  he  ordered  Shattock's  hat  to  be  re- 
moved, but,  after  perusing  the  letters,  restored  it,  and 
took  off  his  own.  After  consultation  with  the  deputy 
governor,  he  informed  the  messenger  that  they 
should  obey  the  king's  command.  In  the  evening, 
the  passengers  of  the  ship  came  on  shore,  and,  with 
their  friends  in  town,  held  a  meeting,  "  where  they 
returned  praises  to  God  for  his  mercy,  manifested  in 
their  wonderful  deliverance." 

The  general  court  suspended  the  execution  of  the 
laws  against  quakers,  at  their  next  session,  but  soon 
revived  them  so  far  as  respected  "  vagabond  quakers," 
who  were  to  be  seized  by  any  person  and  carried  be- 
fore the  next  magistrate  of  the  shire  or  any  commis- 
sioner, and  then  sentenced  to  be  stripped  naked  from 
the  middle  upwards,  and  be  tied  to  a  cart's  tail  in  the 
town  where  they  were  found,  and  whipped  through 
that  and  the  other  towns,  to  the  extent  of  the  juris- 
diction of  the  colony,  provided  they  should  not  be 
whipped  through  more  than  three  towns  ;  and  the 
magistrate  was  to  specify  the  number  of  stripes  to  be 
given.  A  law,  conferring  such  powers  on  compara- 
tively irresponsible  persons,  was  sure  to  be  abused, 
and  cruelties  were  practised  under  it  which  the  mo- 
dern reader  finds  it  difficult  to  credit.  In  1662, 
three  women,  Anne  Coleman,  Mary  Tomkins,  and 
Alice  Ambrose,  were  tied  to  a  cart's  tail  in  Dover, 
5* 


54  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

and  whipped,  with  ten  stripes  in  each  town,  through 
Dover,  Hampton,  Salisbury,  Newbury,  Rowley, 
Ipswich,  Wenham,  Lynn,  Boston,  Roxbury,  and 
Dedham.  Elizabeth  Hooton,  a  woman  sixty  years 
old,  was  whipped  in  Cambridge,  Watertown,  and 
Dedham,  with  ten  stripes  in  each  town.  She  returned 
again  to  Boston,  when  she  was  sent  to  the  house 
of  correction ;  then  whipt,  led  thence  to  Roxbury, 
there  whipped  at  a  cart's  tail,  and  from  thence  to 
Dedham.  She  again  returned,  and,  after  two  day's 
imprisonment,  was  whipped  from  the  prison-door 
to  the  limits  of  the  town,  and  then  sent  away  for 
Rhode  Island,  with  a  warrant  to  whip  her  from  town 
to  town.  Joseph  Nicholson,  Jane  Willard,  and 
Anne  Coleman  were  whipped  through  Salem,  Bos- 
ton, and  Dedham.  It  is  related  that  one  of  the  nip- 
ples of  Anne  Coleman 's  breast  was  split  by  the  knots 
of  the  whip,  causing  extreme  torture. 

The  account  of  these  and  other  equally  cruel  pro- 
ceedings under  this  law,  is  derived  from  quaker  au- 
thors, but  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  their  general 
accuracy,  although  of  many  of  these  punishments, 
being  inflicted  by  the  order  of  local  magistrates,  there 
appears  to  be  no  record.  The  same  writers  mention 
other  occurrences,  which,  coming  from  a  different 
source,  might  well  be  doubted.  In  1665,  Lydia  War- 
dell,  a  respectable  married  woman,  entered  stark  naked 
into  the  church  in  Newbury,  where  she  formerly  wor- 
shipped, and  was  highly  extolled  for  her  submission 
to  the  inward  light,  that  had  revealed  to  her  the  duty 
of  illustrating  the  spiritual  nakedness  of  her  neigh- 
bors by  this  indecent  exhibition  of  her  own  person. 


THE    QUAKERS.  55 

"  The  people,"  says  Besse,  the  quaker,  who  wrote  long 
after  the  excitement  attending  these  scenes  had  sub- 
sided, and  in  another  country,  "  instead  of  religiously 
reflecting  on  their  own  condition,  which  she  came  in 
that  manner  to  represent  to  them,  fell  into  a  rage,  and 
presently  laid  hands  on  her  and  hurried  her  away  to  the 
court  at  Ipswich,"  where  she  was  hastily  sentenced  to 
be  severely  whipped  at  the  next  tavern  post.  She  was 
accordingly  stripped  and  tied  with  her  naked  breasts 
against  the  splinters  of  the  post,  and  lashed  with 
more  than  a  score  of  stripes,  "which,  though  they 
miserably  tore  her  bruised  body,  were  yet  to  the  great 
comfort  of  her  husband  and  friends,  who,  having 
unity  with  her  in  those  sufferings  and  in  the  cause  of 
them,  stood  by  to  comfort  her  in  so  deep  a  trial." 
In  the  same  year,  Deborah  Wilson,  a  young  and  re- 
spectable married  woman,  made  a  similar  display  in 
the  streets  of  Salem,  for  which  she  was  sentenced  to 
be  tied  to  the  cart's  tail  and  whipped  with  her  mother 
and  sister,  who,  it  was  said,  had  counseled  her. 
Her  young  husband,  who  was  not  a  quaker,  followed 
after,  sometimes  thrusting  his  hat  between  the  whip 
and  her  back. 

In  July,  1675,  four  women  and  one  man  were  ar- 
rested in  Boston,  for  "  creating  a  horrible  disturb- 
ance, and,"  as  the  warrant  set  forth,  "affrighting 
people  in  the  south  church  at  the  time  of  the  public 
dispensing  of  the  word  on  the  Lord's  day,  whereby 
several  women  are  in  danger  of  miscarrying."  Mar- 
garet Brewster,  the  leader  of  the  band,  appears  to 
have  arrived  in  the  town  from  Barbadoes,  on  the 
Lord's  day,  and,  leaving  her  riding  clothes  and  shoes 


56  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

at  the  door  of  the  south  church,  she  rushed  into 
the  house  with  her  female  companions,  creating  an 
alarm  in  the  astonished  assembly,  that  baffles  descrip- 
tion. She  was  clothed  in  sackcloth,  with  ashes  upon 
her  head,  and  her  hair  streaming  over  her  shoulders. 
Her  feet  were  bare,  and  her  face  was  begrimmed 
with  coal-dust.  She  announced  herself  as  an  illus- 
tration of  the  black  pox,  which  she  predicted  as  an 
approaching  judgment  on  the  people.  Upon  her 
examination  before  the  magistrates,  she  said  that  God 
had  three  years  since  laid  this  service  upon  her  in 
Barbadoes  and  she  had  her  husband's  consent  to 
come  and  perform  it.  She  and  her  female  compan- 
ions were  sentenced  to  be  stripped  from  the  middle 
upwards  and  tied  to  a  cart's  tail  at  the  south  meeting 
house,  and  drawn  through  the  town,  receiving  twenty 
lashes  on  their  naked  backs. 

There  are  some  who  dwell  with  satisfaction  on  the 
offences  of  the  quakers,  and  find  in  them  an  extenu- 
ation of  the  law,  by  which  four  of  the  sect  had  suf- 
fered death ; '  but  they  may  with  more  propriety  be 
considered  as  the  result  of  the  sanguinary  proceed- 
ings against  the  quakers,  than  as  the  cause  of  them. 
It  is  important  to  recollect,  that,  although  the  quakers 
had  been  guilty  of  acts  for  which  they  deserved  pun- 
ishment, and  had  rendered  themselves  extremely  an- 

1  Even  historical  writers  of  acknowledged  merit  speak  of  the 
conduct  of  some  of  the  quakers  in  1G65,  as  though  it  led  to  the 
passage  of  laws  several  years  previous.  If  the  quakers  had  been 
guilty  of  such  indecencies  in  1658,  they  would  unquestionably 
have  been  referred  to  in  the  preambles  to  the  laws  subsequently 
made,  and  more  especially  in  the  declaration  of  the  general  court 
in  1659.  Compare  Grahame's  History  of  the  United  States,  i.  299. 


THE    QUAKERS.  57 

noying  to  the  civil  authority,  it  was  not  until  they 
had  been  driven  to  madness  by  cruel  persecution, 
that  they  were  guilty  of  the  insane  enormities,  which, 
at  this  day,  would  consign  them  to  the  mad  house 
instead  of  the  whipping  post.  Deborah  Wilson  did 
not  go  naked  through  the  streets  of  Salem,  until 
many  of  her  sex  had  been  stripped  to  the  waist  by 
the  command  of  magistrates,  and  ignominiously 
dragged  at  the  cart's  tail  by  the  sound  of  the  lash  on 
their  naked  backs,  amid  the  jeers  of  the  bigoted  and 
the  vulgar.1 

Whatever  was  the  conduct  of  the  quakers,  the 
general  proceedings  against  them  need  no  condem- 
nation at  the  present  day.  But  the  good  name  and 
fame  of  our  fathers  requires  of  us  to  remember,  that 
the  more  severe  laws  against  this  sect  were  obtained 
with  difficulty.  They  found  few  defenders  at  that 
day,  and  were  soon  universally  regarded  with  regret. 
"  All  that  can  be  said  of  them,"  says  the  learned  and 
ingenuous  Hubbard,  who  lived  at  the  time,  "  amounts 
to  this  much  ;  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  place  hav- 
ing purchased  the  country  for  themselves,  they  ac- 
counted it  an  unreasonable  injury  for  any  to  come 
presumptuously,  without  license,  or  allowance,  to  live 
amongst  them,  and  sow  the  seeds  of  their  dangerous 
and  perverse  principles  amongst  the  inhabitants, 

1  These  scenes  have  not  escaped  the  attention  of  Whittier,  the 
quaker  poet  of  our  day  :  — 

"  Old  Newbury,  had  her  fields  a  tongue, 
And  Salem's  streets,  could  tell  their  story, 
Of  fainting  woman  borne  along, 
Gashed  by  the  whip,  accursed  and  gory  !  " 


58  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

tending  to  the  subversion  of  all  that  was  good, 
whether  sacred  or  civil ;  and  therefore  thought  them- 
selves bound  to  hold  out  the  sharp  against  any  that 
should  attempt,  without  leave,  to  thrust  themselves 
amongst  them  ;  which  renders  them  that  obstinately 
and  wilfully  would  so  do,  felones  de  se,  like  them 
that  will  break  into  a  man's  dwelling  house,  whether 
he  will  or  no."  '  Even  Cotton  Mather,  who  was  no 
friend  of  the  quakers,  refused  to  defend  the  proceed- 
ings against  them.  "  A  great  clamor,"  he  says, 
"  hath  been  raised  against  New  England  for  their 
persecution  of  the  quakers ;  and  if  any  man  will 
appear  in  the  vindication  of  it,  let  him  do  as  he 
please  ;  for  my  part  I  will  not.  I  am  verily  persuaded 
these  miserable  quakers  would  in  a  little  while  (as  we 
have  now  seen)  have  come  to  nothing,  if  the  civil  mag- 
istrate had  not  inflicted  any  civil  penalty  upon  them  ; 
nor  do  I  look  upon  hereticide  as  an  evangelical  way 
for  the  extinguishing  of  heresies."  "  '  T  is  true 
these  quakers  did  manifest  an  intolerable  contempt 
of  authority,  and  needlessly  pull  upon  themselves  a 
vengeance,  from  which  the  authority  would  gladly 
have  released  them,  if  they  would  have  accepted  of 
a  release  ;  but  it  is  also  true,  that  they  were  madmen, 
a  sort  of  lunatics,  demoniacs,  and  enurgumens."  * 

After  the  execution  of  Stephenson  and  Robinson, 
the  general  court  thought  it  advisable  to  vindicate 
the  justice  of  their  proceedings ;  and  for  this  pur- 
pose, several  papers  appear  to  have  been  prepared  by 

1  This  appears  in  Hubbard's  History  of  New  England  as  if  it 
were  a  part  of  the  declaration  of  the  general  court. 
8  Magnalia  Christi  Americana,  vii.  4. 


THE    QUAKERS.  59 

different  individuals  and  sent  to  the  court.  Two  of 
them  were  adopted  and  are  spread  out  upon  their 
records.  The  first,  which  was  ordered  to  be  printed, 
briefly  recapitulates  the  proceedings  respecting  the 
quakers,  and  concludes  as  follows :  "  The  conside- 
ration of  our  gradual  proceeding  will  vindicate  us 
from  the  clamorous  accusation  of  severity.  Our  own 
just  and  necessary  defence  calling  upon  us  (other 
means  failing)  to  offer  the  point,  which  these  per- 
sons have  violently  and  wilfully  rushed  upon;  and 
thereby  are  become  felons  de  se,  which,  might  it 
have  been  prevented,  and  the  sovereign  law,  salus 
populi,  been  preserved.  Our  former  proceedings,  as 
well  as  the  sparing  of  Mary  Dyer  upon  an  inconsid- 
erable intercession,  will  manifestly  evince  we  desired 
their  life  absent,  rather  than  their  death,  present." ' 

The  second  declaration,  which  was  ordered  to  be 
sent  to  the  towns  by  the  secretary  in  writing,  was  an 
elaborate  production  divided  into  six  heads.  First : 
it  asserted,  that  the  doctrines  of  the  quakers  were 
destructive  of  the  fundamental  truths  of  religion  and 
the  sacred  trinity,  the  person  of  Christ,  and  the  holy 
scriptures  as  a  perfect  rule  of  faith  and  life  ;  and  the 
commandment  of  God  was  plain,  that  he  that  pro- 
fesses to  speak  sin  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  and  turn 
people  out  of  the  way  which  the  Lord  hath  com- 
manded to  walk  in,  such  an  one  shall  be  put  to  death, 

1  This  declaration  is  contained  in  Hubbard's  History  of  New 
England.  In  answer  to  it,  Bishope  wrote  the  first  part  of  his  New 
England  Judged.  I  am  not  aware,  that  the  other  declaration  which 
was  sent  to  the  towns  in  writing,  and  of  which  a  brief  synopsis  is 
given  in  the  text,  has  ever  been  printed. 


60  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

according  to  Zacheriah  xiii.  3,  and  Deuteronomy  xiii. 
6,  and  xviii.  2.  Second:  it  was  the  command  of 
God,  that  Christians  should  obey  magistrates,  and  it 
was  well  known  that  the  quakers  were  far  from  giving 
that  honor  and  reverence  to  magistrates  which  the 
Lord  required  of  them,  and  which  good  men  had 
given  them ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  they  showed  con- 
tempt against  them  in  their  very  outward  gestures 
and  behavior,  and  some  of  them  at  least  spared  not 
to  belch  out  railing  and  cursing  speeches.  Their 
case  was  compared  to  that  of  Shimei,  whom  Solo- 
mon commanded  not  to  leave  Jerusalem,  and  whom 
he  put  to  death  because  he  violated  the  command. 
"  And,  therefore,"  was  the  conclusion  of  this  head, 
"  if  death  may  be  justly  inflicted  for  breach  of  con- 
finement, much  more  for  return  from  banishment, 
which  is  these  quakers'  case."  Fourth :  there  was 
no  man  that  was  possessed  of  house  or  land  wherein 
he  had  just  title  and  propriety  of  his  own,  but  would 
account  it  unreasonably  injurious  that  another,  who 
had  no  authority  therein,  should  intrude  and  enter 
into  his  house,  without  his  the  owner's  consent ;  yea, 
and  whom  the  owner  doth  expressly  prohibit  and 
forbid  the  same ;  and  if  a  person  insist  upon  coming 
in,  the  owner  might,  se  defendendo,  slay  him,  and  his 
blood  would  be  upon  his  own  head.  Had  not  the 
keepers  and  guardian  of  the  commonwealth  as  much 
power  to  take  away  the  lives  of  such,  as,  contrary  to 
their  prohibition,  should  invade  or  intrude  into  their 
public  possessions  or  territories.  If,  then,  in  such 
violent  and  bold  attempts  the  quakers  had  lost  their 
lives,  they  might  thank  themselves  as  the  blameless 


THE     QUAKERS.  61 

cause  and  authors  of  their  own  death.  Fifth :  who 
could  make  question,  but  that  a  man  that  hath  child- 
dren  and  family  both  justly  may,  and  in  duty  ought 
to  preserve  them  of  his  charge,  as  far  as  he  is  able, 
from  the  dangerous  company  of  persons  infected  with 
the  plague  or  pestilence,  or  other  contagious,  noi- 
some and  mortal  diseases  ;  and  if  such  person  should 
offer  to  intrude  into  the  man's  house,  amongst  his 
children  and  family,  could  any  one  doubt  but  the 
father  might  withstand  such  intrusion.  Therefore, 
might  not  magistrates  do  the  like  for  their  sub- 
jects, to  keep  out  moral  infection  ?  Sixth  :  it  was  the 
command  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  to  his  disciples, 
that  when  they  were  persecuted  in  one  city,  they 
should  flee  into  another,  and  accordingly  it  was  his 
own  practice  so  to  do  many  a  time ;  and  so  also  of 
the  saints,  and  his  apostles ;  and  reason  required 
men  so  to  do  when  they  had  liberty,  for  by  refusing 
they  were  guilty  of  tempting  God.  If,  therefore, 
what  had  been  done  against  quakers  was  persecution, 
what  spirit  must  they  be  thought  to  be  actuated  or 
led  by,  who  were,  in  this,  acting  so  contrary  to  the 
commandment  and  authority  of  Christ  and  his  saints 
in  the  case  of  persecution,  which  the  quakers  sup- 
posed to  be  their  case?  If  their  case  were  the 
same,  their  actings  were  not  the  same,  but  quite  con- 
trary, so  that  Christ  and  his  saints  were  led  by  one 
spirit,  and  those  people  by  another. 

The  principles  and  opinions  avowed  in  this  decla- 
ration were  not  peculiar  to  the  general  court  of  Mas- 
sachusetts. Religious  intolerance  was  the  mistake 
of  the  age.  The  quakers,  in  particular,  were  every 


62  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

where  subjected  to  severe  and  unusual  punishments. 
In  countries  where  they  were  not  hanged  by  express 
law,  they  were  killed  by  mobs,  and  starved  in  dun- 
geons, gloomy  beyond  description.  By  an  act  of 
parliament,  in  1662,  they  were  made  liable  to  heavy 
fines  for  holding  meetings,  and  for  a  third  offence,  to 
transportation  to  any  of  his  majesty's  colonies.1  In 
Virginia,  they  were  by  law  liable  to  imprisonment 
till  they  should  abjure  the  country,  and,  for  a  third  re- 
turn, to  death.  If  no  execution  took  place  there,  it  was 
not  owing  to  the  moderation  of  the  church,  or  the 
spirit  of  the  legislature ;  but  to  historical  circum- 
stances, which  have  not  been  handed  down  to  us.2 
What  need  to  mention  the  laws  against  this  sect  by 
other  colonies,  or  the  severe  penalties  attached  to 
nonconformity  by  British  statutes  of  a  later  date  ? 

It  is  a  hard  measure  to  visit  upon  the  colonists  of 
Massachusetts  Bay  the  sins  of  all  Christendom ;  and 
those  do  not  read  aright  the  page  of  their  history 
who  expect  extraordinary  toleration  in  the  puritans, 
because  they  had  themselves  been  driven  from  their 
own  country.  They  came  to  the  wilderness  of 
America  only  for  the  purpose  of  enjoying  their  own 
religious  opinions  without  hurt  or  hindrance.  They 
erected  a  government  with  this  object  in  view.  "  It 
concerneth  New  England  always  to  remember,"  was 
the  language  of  a  writer  3  of  that  day,  who  spoke  by 

'  13  and  14  of  Charles  II. ;  Statutes  at  Large,  v.  82. 

*  Jefferson's  Notes  on  Virginia,  Query  xvii. 

3  Norton,  in  his  "  Heart  of  New  England  Rent  at  the  Blasphe- 
mies of  the  present  Generation,"  Cambridge,  1059  ;  a  work  which 
was  prepared  by  order  of  the  general  court,  and  for  which  the  au- 
thor received  the  thanks  of  that  body  and  a  grant  of  land. 


THE     QUAKERS.  63 

authority,  "  that  originally  they  are  a  plantation  reli- 
gious, not  a  plantation  of  trade.  The  profession  of 
the  purity  of  doctrine,  worship,  and  discipline  is 
written  upon  her  forehead."  They  asked  for  no 
converts ;  they  sought  not  to  enforce  their  doctrines 
beyond  their  own  jurisdiction.  "  Israel  shall  dwell 
above;"  it  was  all  they  asked;  and,  beyond  all 
question,  they  had  a  right,  which  would  be  recog- 
nized at  the  present  day  under  similar  circumstances, 
to  thrust  out  of  their  jurisdiction  all  who  directly 
interfered  with  and  defeated  the  very  objects,  which 
their  government  was  erected  to  secure  to  them  and 
their  posterity.  In  endeavoring  to  control  the  opin- 
ions of  men,  and,  more  than  all,  in  inflicting  severe 
and  cruel  punishments  for  that  purpose,  they  fell  into 
the  errors  and  mistakes  of  the  age  in  which  they  lived. 
To  judge  of  their  acts  by  any  other  rules  than  those 
which  that  age  recognized,  would  be  unjust ;  and  to 
try  and  condemn  them  by  principles,  which  are  only 
the  growth  of  the  two  centuries  that  have  since 
elapsed,  would  be  both  unjust  and  absurd.  Admit- 
ing  the  colonists  to  be  the  best,  if  not  the  only,  judges 
of  the  expediency  of  their  measures  to  promote  the 
ends  they  had  in  view ;  and,  looking  at  those  ends  by 
the  light  of  principles,  by  which  alone  they  ought  to 
be  judged  of;  we  shall  see  less  cause  to  censure  our 
ancestors  for  the  severities  they  inflicted  on  the  quak- 
ers,  than  we  shall  to  bless  God  for  the  light  and  lib- 
erty of  an  age,  in  which  their  offence  and  their  punish- 
ment would  be  equally  impossible. 


TRIALS   FOR   WITCHCRAFT 


SPECIAL  COURT  OF  OYER  AND  TERMINER, 


SALEM,  MASSACHUSETTS,  1G92. 


At  the  trials  for  witchcraft  in  Salem,  Massachusetts,  ]G92,  the 
evidence  appears  to  have  been  reduced  to  writing  and  sworn  to  by 
the  witnesses  in  open  court,  in  accordance  with  the  colony  laws  of 
1639  and  1650.  Much  of  this  testimony,  together  with  the  indict- 
ments, orders  of  the  court,  death  warrants,  &c.,  is  still  preserved, 
and  has  been  carefully  examined  in  preparing  the  following  account 
of  those  celebrated  trials.  Immediately  subsequent  to  the  trials,  a 
portion  of  the  evidence  was  collected  by  Cotton  Mather,  at  the 
command  of  governor  Phipps,  and  was  published  in  his  Wonders 
of  the  Invisible  World.  Two  of  the  judges  certified  to  the  correct- 
ness of  his  reports.  A  work,  which  is  entitled  to  more  considera- 
tion, was  written  by  Robert  Calef,  a  merchant  of  Boston,  entitled 
More  Wonders  of  the  Invisible  World.  The  author  was  a  sturdy 
opponent  of  the  received  notions  respecting  witchcraft,  and  exposed 
the  doctrines  of  Mather  on  the  subject  with  great  clearness  and 
power.  It  contains  the  best  account  of  the  Salem  Witchcraft  of 
any  work  of  that  day.  The  first  edition  was  published  in  London, 
1700.  It  was  republished  at  Salem,  in  1796;  and  at  Boston,  in 
1828.  Hutchinson  gives  a  brief  account  of  these  trials  in  his  second 
volume,  and  appears  to  have  examined  some  original  documents, 
which  are  not  preserved.  The  subject  has  also  received  the  atten- 
tion of  modern  historians,  and  several  popular  works  have  been 
written  upon  it,  with  which  the  public  are  familiar. 


TRIALS  FOR  WITCHCRAFT. 


THAT  mortals  may  acquire  supernatural  power,  by 
entering  into  a  compact  with  evil  spirits,  has  in  all 
ages  and  countries  been  credited  by  the  common 
people,  and  even  by  the  learned  themselves.  The 
gractice,  Although— ftlways  held  in  detestation  and 
abhorrence,  was  not  proceeded  against  as  a  crime 
with  any  extraordinary  zeal,  until  1484y  when  pope 
Innocent  VIII.  issued  a  bull  directing  the  inquisitors 
to  be  vigilant  in  searching  out  and  punishing  persons 
guilty  of  this  crime.  The  mandate  of  Innocent  was 
enforced  by  successive  bulls  of  other  popes,  and  his- 
tory records  the  horrors  which  marked  their  execution 
for  two  centuries  and  a  half.  In  1515,  five  hundred 
witches  were  burned  at  Geneva  in  the  period  of  three 
months.  In  one  year,  one  thousand  were  executed 
in  the  diocese  of  Como ;  and  it  has  been  calculated, 


68  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

that  not  less  that  one  hundred  thousand  victims  must 
have  suffered  in  Germany  from  the  date  of  Innocent's 
bull  to  the  final  extinction  of  the  prosecutions.1 

In  England,  the  practice  of  witchcraft  was  early 
viewed  jwith  singular  horror,  and  the  course  of  le- 
gislation and  judicial  procedure  against  it  were 
peculiarly_severe.  Individual  instances  of  trial  for 
tfwToffence  occur  in  that  country  previous  to  any 
penal  statute  against  it.  In  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII. 
it  was  declared  by  law  to  be  felony  "  to  practice  or 
cause  to  be  practiced  conjuration,  enchantment,  or 
sorcery,  to  get  money ;  or  to  consume  any  person  in 
his  body,  members,  or  goods  ;  or  to  provoke  any  per- 
son to  unlawful  love  ;  or,  for  the  despite  of  Christ,  or 
lucre  of  money,  to  pull  down  any  cross ;  or  to  de- 
clare where  goods  stolen  lie."  * 

In  the  reign  of  queen  Elizabeth,  a  statute  was 
made,  which  recited  that  "  many  fanatical  and  devilish^ 
persons  have  devised  and  practiced  invocations  and 
conjurations  of  evil  and  wicked  spirits,  and  have 
used  and  practiced  witchcrafts,  enchantments,  charms 
and  sorceries,  to  the  destruction  of  the  persons  and 
goods  of  their  neighbors,  and  other  subjects  of  this 
realm,  and  for  lewd  intents  and  purposes,  contrary 
to  the  laws  of  Almighty  God,  to  the  peril  of  their 
own  souls,  and  to  the  great  infamy  and  disquietness 
of  this  realm  ;"  and  declared  that  every  person  guilty 
of  such  practices,  whereby  any  person  should  hap- 

1  Encyclopaedia  Americana,  Art.  Witch 

*  33  Henry  VIII.,  c.  8,  (1541) ;  Statutes  at  Large,  iii,  347.  This 
statute  was  repealed  by  the  general  words  of  1  Edward  VI.,  c.  12 
§  4 ;  and  1  Mary,  stat.  1,  c.  1. 


WITCHCRAFT.  69 

pen  to  be  killed  and  destroyed,  should  suffer  death 
without  Benefit  of  clergy.1 

James  I.,  much  celebrated  for  his  knowledge,  be- 
fore his  arrival  in  England,  not  only  examined  in 
person  a  woman  accused  of  witchcraft,  but  gave  a 
very  formal  account  of  the  practices  and  illusions  of 
evil  spirits,  the  compacts  of  witches,  the  ceremonies 
used  by  them,  the  manner  of  detecting  them,  and  the 
justice  of  punishing  them.2  During  his  reign,  a  law  was 
passed  by  the  parliament  of  Great  Britain,  when  Bacon 
was  a  member  of  the  house  of  commons,  to  the  effect, 
that  all  persons  invoking  any  evil  spirits,  or  consulting, 
covenanting  with,  entertaining,  employing,  feeding,  or 
rewarding  any  evil  spirit ;  or  taking  up  dead  bodies 
from  their  graves  to  be  used  in  any  witchcraft,  sorcery, 
charm,  or  enchantment ;  or  killing,  or  otherwise  hurting 
any  person  by  such  infernal  arts,  should  suffer  death.1 
fit  is  estimated  that  thirty  thousand  suffered  death 
in  England,  for  suspicion  of  witchcraft,  in  one  hund- 
red and  fifty  years.4  j  In  1647,  between  two  and  three 
hundred  persons  were  indicted  for  this  offence  in 
Suffolk  and  Essex,  and  more  than  half  of  them  were 
executed.5  In  1665,  at  Bury  St.  Edmunds,  Suffolk, 
Sir  Matthew  Hale,  a  man  universally  renowned  for 
the  strength  of  his  understanding  and  the  purity  of 
his  character,  after  a  long  and  anxious  examination, 

5  Elizabeth,  c.  16  (15012);  Statutes  at  Large,  iv,  230. 

Johnson's  observations  on  the  tragedy  of  Macbeth. 

1  James  I.,  c.  12  (1603) ;  Statutes  at  Large,  iv,  599.  This  stat- 
ute  was  repealed  by  the  act  of  9  George  II.,  c.  5  (1736> 

Howell's  State  Trials,  ii,  1051. 

Ib. ;  Hutchinson's  Historical  Essays  concerning  Witchcraft,  50, 
179. 


70  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

[sentenced  two  women,  Rose  Cullender  and  Amy 
Duny,  to  die  for  this  offence.  Their  trials  were  re- 
ported with  great  particularity,  and  correspond  re- 
markably well  with  those  which  subsequently  took 
place  in  New  England.'  It  is  related,  that  the  af- 
flicted persons  had  severe  fits  during  the  trial,  and,  in 
the  midst  of  them,  when  they  were  wholly  deprived 
of  sense  and  understanding,  closing  their  fists  in  such 
a  manner  that  the  strongest  man  in  court  could  not 
force  them  open,  they  would  suddenly  shriek  out 
and  open  their  hands,  on  the  least  touch  of  one  of 
the  supposed  witches,  which  accident  would  not  hap- 
pen by  the  touch  of  any,  other  person ;  and  this 
although  they  were  blinded!  A  person  present  ob- 
jected, that  the  children  might  counterfeit  this  dis- 
temper ;  "  wherefore,  to  avoid  this  scruple,  it  was 
privately  desired  by  the  judge,  that  the  Lord  Corn- 
wallis,  Sir  Edmund  Bacon,  and  Mr.  Serjeant  Keel- 
ing, and  some  other  gentlemen  then  in  court,  would 
attend  one  of  the  distempered  persons  in  the  farther 
part  of  the  hall,  whilst  she*  was  in  her  fits,  and  then 
to  send  for  one  of  the  witches,  to  try  what  would 
then  happen,  which  they  did  accordingly  ;  and  Amy 
Duny  was  conveyed  from  the  bar  and  brought  to  the 
maid.  They  put  an  apron  before  her  eyes,  and  then 
one  other  person  touched  her  hand,  which  produced 
the  same  effect  as  the  touch  of  the  witch  did  in  the 
court,  whereupon  the  gentlemen  returned,  openly 
protesting,  that  they  did  believe  the  whole  transaction 
of  this  business  was  a  mere  imposture  ; "  but  their 
opinion  did  not  save  the  prisoners.1  The  judicial 

1  Howell's  State  Trials,  vi,  698.    ' 


WITCHCRAFT.  71 

^ 

proceedings  against  witchcraft  were  checked  chiefly 
by  the  firmness  of  Lord  Holt,  who,  in  ten  trials,  from 
1694  to  1701,  charged  the  jury  in  such  a  manner  as 
to  cause  them  to  bring  in  verdicts  of  acquittal.  But, 
long  after  this,  the  conviction  of  the  witches  of  War- 
bois,  in  the  reign  of  queen  Elizabeth,  was  commem- 
orated in  an  annual  sermon  at  Huntingdon  ; '  and,  in 
1716,j[Mrs.  Hicks  and  her  daughter,  nine  years  of 
age,  were  hanged  for  selling  their  souls  to  the  devil, 
and  raising  a  storm  by  pulling  off  stockings  and 
making  a  lather  of  soapTJ  In  Scotland,  the  execu- 
tions for  this  offence  are  supposed  to  have  been 
equally  numerous.  The  last  victim  executed  there 
perished  in  1722  ;  and  the  seceders  in  that  country 
published  an  act  of  their  associate  presbytery,  at 
Edinburgh  in  1743  —  reprinted  at  Glasgow  in  1776  — 
denouncing  the  repeal  of  the  penal  laws  against 
witchcraft  as  a  national  sin.3 

The  colonists  of  New  England  did  not  pretend  to 
be  wiser  upon  this  subject  than  the  rest  of  Christen- 
dom, and  had  no  doubt  of  the  reality  of  a  practice, 

1  Johnson's  observations  on  the  tragedy  of  Macbeth. 

1  Encyclopaedia  Americana,  Art.  Witch. 

*  Arnot's  Criminal  Trials  in  Scotland  ;  Grahame's  History  of  the 
United  States,!, 392.  — "  The  law  against  witches,"  says  Selden  in 
his  Table  Talk,  "  does  not  prove  there  be  any,  but  it  punishes  the 
malice  of  those  people  that  use  such  means  to  take  away  men's 
lives.  If  one  should  profess  that  by  turning  his  hat  thrice,  and 
crying  '  buz,'  he  could  take  away  a  man's  life,  (though  in  truth  he 
could  do  no  such  thing.)  yet  this  were  a  just  law  made  by  the 
state,  that  whosoever  should  turn  his  hat  thrice  and  cry  «buz,"  with 
an  intention  to  take  away  a  man's  life,  shall  be  put  to  death."  Bar- 
ringt.on,  in  his  observations  on  the  statute  of  20  Henry  VI.,  thinks 
«;  such  a  law  as  that  suggested  by  Selden  may  be  declared  to  be 
not  only  ridiculous  and  futile,  but  highly  unjust."  Howell,  ii,  1051. 


72  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

which  had  received  the  execration  of  good  men  in  all 
ages ;  which  was  expressly  condemned  by  the  laws 
of  the  mother  country  to  the  severest  of  human  pun- 
ishments ;  and  which,  in  their  apprehension,  was  clearly 
recognised  in  the  word  of  God.  In  accordance  with 
the  opinion  of  their  countrymen,  they  regarded  it 
with  a  degree  of  abhorrence  and  indignation,  corres- 
ponding with  the  piety  for  which  they  were  so  re- 
markably distinguished.  But  neither  in  New  Eng- 
land, any  more  than  in  the  old  world,  was  the  belief 
in  witchcraft  universal  ;  and,  as  early  as  1693,  Robert 
Calef,  the  unlettered  Boston  merchant,  denied  the  re- 
ceived opinions  on  this  subject,  and  exposed  a  delusion 
which  had  so  long  fastened  itself  on  the  public  mind, 
in  a  style  of  bold  and  manly  inquiry  that  commanded 
attention,  and  with  a  vein  of  sarcasm,  that  brought 
upon  his  head  the  maledictions  of  the  ministers,  and 
a  prosecution  by  Cotton  Mather.  Witchcraft,  he 
contended,  was  manifestly  a  work  of  the  flesh.  To 
assert  that  men  could  enter  into  a  league  with  evil 
spirits  for  the  injury  of  other  men,  was  to  make 
God  a  party  to  the  compact,  or  to  deny  his  omnipo- 
tence.1 To  assert  the  first,  was  to  make  Him  a  liar. 
The  last  was  blasphemy.  More  than  half  a  cen- 
tury after  this,  the  learned  and  elegant  commentator 

1  The  same  doctrine  was  maintained  by  Reginald  Scot,  in  his 
Discoverie  of  Witchcraft,  first  published  in  1584.  The  copies  remain- 
ing at  the  time  of  James,  were  burned  by  his  command.  It  was 
reprinted  in  1651  and  J6C5.  Scot  was  styled  by  Glanvil  and  others, 
the  "  Father  of  the  Modern  Witch  Advocates,"  the  "  Gallant  of 
the  Old  Hags."  An  elaborate  treatise  was  sent  forth  in  1677,  "  The 
Displaying  of  Supposed  Witchcraft,"  by  John  Webster,  wherein  he 
defends  Scot.  D'Israeli. 


WITCHCRAFT.  73 

on  the  laws  of  England,  asserted  in  the  halls  of  one 
of  her  universities  of  learning,  that,  to  deny  the  act- 
ual existence  of  witchcraft  and  sorcery,  was  at  once 
flatly  to  contradict  the  revealed  word  of  God,  in 
various  passages,  both  of  the  old  and  New  Testa- 
ment ;  and  the  thing  itself  was  a  truth  to  which 
every  nation  in  the  world  had  in  its  turn  borne  testi- 
mony ; l  and  he  concluded  with  a  writer  of  that  day, 
that  in  general  there  had  been  such  a  thing  as  witch- 
craft, though  one  could  not  give  credit  to  any  partic- 
ular modern  instance  of  it.* 

TFrom  the  earliest  periods  of  the  history  of  New 
England,  the  Indians  were  regarded  as  worshippers 
of  the  devil,  and  their  powwows  as  wizzards.  The 
first  suspicion  of  witchcraft  among  the  English  was 
about  the  year  1645.  At  Springfield,  on  the  Con- 
necticut river,  several  persons  were  supposed  to  be 
under  an  evil  hand,  but  no  one  was  convicted  until 
1650,  when  a  poor  wretch,  Mary  Oliver,  after  a  long 
examination,  was  brought  to  a  confession  of  her  guilt, 
but  it  does  not  appear  that  she  was  executed^  J^.bout 
the  same  time,  three  persons  were  executed  near 
Boston,  all  of  whom  at  their  death  asserted  their  in- 
nocence.^ In  1655,  Anne  Hibbins,  the  widow  of  a 
magistrate  and  a  man  of  note  in  Boston,  was  tried 
for  this  offence  before  the  court  of  assistants.  The 
jury  found  her  guilty,  but  the  magistrates  refused  to 
accept  the  verdict.  The  case  was  carried  up  to  the 
general  court,  where  the  popular  voice  prevailed,  and 


1  Blackstone's  Commentaries,  iv,  GO. 
«  Mr.  Ad.lison,  Spectator,  No.  117. 

7 


74  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

the  prisoner  was  executed.  \~ln  1662,  at  Hartford, 
Connecticut,  a  woman  named  Greensmith  confessed 
that  she  had  beenjjrpssly  familiar  with  a  daemon, 
and  she  was  executed^  In  1669,  Susanna  Martin,  of 
Salisbury,  was  bound  over  to  the  court,  upon  sus- 
picion of  witchcraft,  but  escaped.  She  suffered 
death  in  1692.  In  1671,  Elizabeth  Knap,  who  pos- 
sessed ventriloquial  powers,  alarmed  the  people  of 
Groton,  but  as  her  daemon  railed  at  the  minister  of 
the  town,  and  other  persons  of  good  character, 
the  people  would  not  believe  him.  .^JJer  fraud  and 
imposture  were  soon  discovered.  /_Jn  1694,  Phil- 
ip Smith,  a  judge  of  the  court,  a  military  officer 
and  a  representative  of  the  town  of  Hadley,  fan- 
cied himself  under  an  evil  hand,  and  suspected  an 
old  woman,  one  of  his  neighbors,  as  the  cause  of 
his  sickness.  She  was  dragged  from  her  house  by 
some  young  men,  who  hung  her  up  until  she  was 
nearly  dead  ;  then  rolled  her  in  the  snow,  and  at  last 
buried  her  in  it ;  but  it  happened  that  she  survived, 
and  the  melancholy  man  diecO 

Trials  for  witchcraft  out  "of  New  England,  were 
not  common.  In  1665,  Ralph  Hall  and  his  wife 
were  tried  for  the  offence  in  New  York,  and  ac- 
quitted. In  1660,  in  Queen's  county,  Long  Island, 
Mary  Wright  was  suspected  of  corresponding  with 
the  author  of  evil.  She  was  arraigned,  and  it  was 
finally  concluded  to  transport  her  to  the  general 
court  of  Massachusetts,  "  where  charges  of  this  kind 
were  more  common,  and  the  proofs  necessary  to  sup- 
port them  better  understood."  She  was  accordingly 
arraigned  there  and  acquitted  of  witchcraft,  but  was 


WITCHCRAFT.  75 

convicted  of  being  a  quaker,  and  banished  out  of  the 
jurisdiction.1  In  Pennsylvania,  when  William  Penn 
officiated  as  judge  in  his  new  colony,  two  women, 
accused  of  witchcraft,  were  presented  by  the  grand 
jury.  Without  treating  the  charge  with  contempt, 
which  the  public  mind  would  not  have  borne,  he 
charged  the  jury  to  bring  them  in  guilty  of  being 
suspected  of  witchcraft,  which  was  not  a  crime  that 
exposed  them  to  the  penalty  of  the  law.9 

Notwithstanding  the  frequent  instances  of  sup- 
posed witchcraft  in  Massachusetts,  no  person  had  * 
suffered  death  there  on  that  account,  for  nearly  thirty 
years  after  the  execution  of  Anne  Hibbins.  The 
sentence  of  this  woman  was  disapproved  of  by  many 
influential  men,  and  her  fate  probably  prevented  fur- 
ther prosecutions.  But  in  1685,  a  very  circumstan- 
tial account  of  most  of  the  cases  above  mentioned 
was  published,  and  many  arguments  were  brought  to 
convince  the  country,  that  they  were  no  delusions  or 
impostures,  but  the  effects  of  a  familiarity  between  the 
devil  and  such  as  he  found  fit  for  his  instruments  ;  and, 
in  1687  or  1688,  a  more  alarming  instance  occurred 
than  any  which  had  preceded  it.  fT'our  of  the  child-  • 
ren  of  John  Goodwin,  a  grave  man  and  a  good  liver 
at  the  north  part  of  Boston,  were  generally  believed 
to  be  bewitched.  The  children  were  all  remarkable 
for  ingenuity  of  character,  had  been  religiously  edu- 
cated, and  were  thought  to  be  without  guile.  The 
eldest  was  a  girl  of  thirteen  or  fourteen  years.  She 


1  Thomson's  History  of  Long  Island,  1C2. 

*  Life  of  Cotton  Mather,  in  Sparks's  American  Biography. 


76  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

had  charged  a  laundress  with  taking  away  some  of 
the  family  linen.  The  mother  of  the  laundress  was 
a  low  Irish  woman,  of  bad  character,  and  gave  th6 
girl  harsh  language;  soon  after  which  she  fell  into 
fits,  which  were  said  to  have  something  diabolical  in 
them.  One  of  her  sisters,  and  two  brothers,  followed 
her  example,  and,  it  is  said,  were  tormented  in  the 
same  part  of  their  bodies  at  the  same  time,  although 
kept  in  separate  apartments,  and  ignorant  of  one 
another's  complaints.  One  or  two  things  were  said 
to  be  very  remarkable ;  all  their  complaints  were  in 
the  day  time,  and  they  slept  comfortably  all  night ; 
they  were  struck  dead  at  the  sight  of  the  Assembly's 
Catechism,  Cotton's  Milk  for  Babes,  and  some  other 
good  books,  but  could  read  in  Oxford  jests,  popish 
and  quaker  books,  and  the  common  prayer,  without 
any  difficulty.  Sometimes  they  would  be  deaf,  then 
dumb,  then  blind ;  and  sometimes  all  these  disorders 
together  would  come  upon  them.  Their  tongues 
would  be  drawn  down  their  throats,  then  pulled  out 
upon  their  chins.  Their  jaws,  necks,  shoulders,  el- 
bows, and  all  their  joints,  would  appear  to  be  dislo- 
cated ;  and  they  would  make  most  piteous  outcries  of 
burnings,  of  being  cut  with  knives,  beat,  &c.,  and 
the  marks  of  wounds  were  afterwards  to  be  seen. 
The  ministers  of  Boston  and  Charlestown  kept  a  day 
of  fasting  and  prayer  at  the  troubled  house ;  after 
which,  the  youngest  child  made  no  more  complaints. 
The  others  continuing  to  be  afflicted,  the  magistrates 
interposed,  and  the  old  woman  was  apprehended,  but 
upon  examination  would  neither  confess  nor  deny, 
and  appeared  to  be  disordered  in  her  senses.  Upon 


WITCHCRAFT.  77 

the  report  of  physicians  that  she  was  compos  mentis,  she 
was  executed,  declaring  at  her  death  that  the  children 
should  not  be  relieved.  The  eldest  was  taken  into 
Cotton  Mather's  family,  where,  at  first,  she  behaved 
orderly,  but,  after  some  time,  suddenly  fell  into  her 
fits.  A  printed  account  of  this  aflfair  was  published, 
with  a  preface  by  Baxter,  who  says,  "  the  evidence  is 
so  convincing,  that  he  must  be  a  very  obdurate  saddu- 
cee  who  will  not  believe."  The  credit  it  obtained  was 
sufficient,  together  with  other  preparatives,  to  dispose 
the  whole  country  to  be  easily  imposed  upon  by  the 
more  extensive  and  more  tragical  scene,  which  was 
presently  after  acted  at  Salem  and  other  parts  of  the 
county  of  Essex.  Glanvil,  not  many  years  before, 
published  his  witch  stories  in  England  ;  Perkins  and 
other  nonconformists  were  earlier ;  but  the  great  au- 
thority was  that  of  Sir  Matthew  Hale,  revered  in 
New  England,  not  only  for  his  knowledge  in  the  law, 
but  for  his  gravity  and  piety.  The  trial  of  the  witches 
in  Suffolk  was  published  in  1684.  All  these  books 
were  in  New  England,  and  the  conformity  between 
the  behavior  of  Goodwin's  children  and  most  of  the 
supposed  bewitched  at  Salem,  and  the  behavior  of 
those  in  England,  is  so  exact,  as  to  leave  no  room  to 
doubt  the  stories  had  been  read  by  the  New  England 
persons  themselves,  or  had  been  told  to  them  by 
others  who  had  read  them.1 


1  Hutchinson,'from  whom  this  account  of  Goodwin's  children  is 
taken,  says  they  returned  to  their  ordinary  behavior;  lived  to  adult 
age  ;  made  a  profession  of  religion,  and  the  affliction  they  had  been 
under,  they  publicly  declared  to  be  one  motive  for  it.  One  of  them 
he  knew  many  years  after.  She  had  the  character  of  a  very  sober, 


78  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

The    commencement   of  what   is   known   as   the 

"  Salem  Witchcraft,"  was  in  the  family  of  Samuel 

Parris,  the  minister  of  Salem  village,  now  Danvers, 

4.  in  February,  1692.     There  had  been  a  bitter  strife 

between  this  man  and  a  portion  of  his  people  ;  and 

the  very  active  part  he  took  in  the  prosecutions  for 

j    witchcraft  have  been  justly  attributed  not  less  to  mo- 

''    tives  of  revenge  than  to  a  blind  zeal  in  the  performance 

!of  what  he  considered  his  duty.  A  daughter  of  Mr. 
Parris,  nine  years  of  age,  his  niece,  a  girl  of  less 
than  twelve,  and  two  other  girls  in  the  neighborhood, 
began  to  make  the  same  sort  of  complaints  that  Good- 
win's children  had  made,  two  or  three  years  before. 
The  physicians,  having  no  other  way  of*  accounting  for 

v  their  disorder,  pronounced  tnem  bewitched.  An  In- 
dian woman,  who  had  been  brought  into  the  country 
from  New  Spain,  and  then  lived  with  Mr.  Parris,  tried 
some  experiments,  which  she  pretended  to  have  been 
used  to,  in  her  own  country,  in  order  to  find  out  the 
witch.  This  coming  to  the  children's  knowledge,  they 

j  cried  out  upon  the  poor  Indian,  as  appearing  to  them, 
pinching,  pricking,  and  tormenting  them ;  and  they  fell 
into  fits.  /Tituba,  the  Indian,  acknowledged  that  she 
had  learned  how  to  find  out  a  witch,  but  denied  that 
she  was  one  herself.  Several  private  fasts  were  kept 
at  the  minister's  house,  and  several,  more  public,  by 
the  whole  village,  and  then  a  general  fast  through 
the  colony,  to  seek  to  God  to  rebuke  satan.  The 
great  notice  taken  of  the  children,  together  with  the 


virtuous  woman,  and  never  made  any  acknowledgment  of  fraud  in 
this  transaction. 


WITCHCRAFT.  79 

pity  and  compassion  of  the  persons  by  whom  they  were 
visited,  not  only  tended  to  confirm  them  in  their  con- 
duct, but  to  draw  others  into  the  like.  Accordingly, 
the  number  of  the  sufferers  soon  increased;  and, 
among  them,  there  were  two  or  three  women,  and 
some  girls  old  enough  for  witnesses.  These,  too, 
had_  their  fits,  andTwhen  in  them,  cried  out,  not  only 
against  Titiihti,  hut  again  at.  Sarah  Osburn,  a  melan- 
choly,  distracted  old  woman,  and  Sarah  Good,  an- 
other old  woman  who  was  bed-rid.  Tituba  having,  as 
if'is  "alleged,  been  scourged  by  her  master,  at  length 
confessed  herself  a  witch,  and  that  the  two  old  wo- 
men were  her  confederates.  The  three  were  then 
committed  to  prison ;  and  Tituba,  upon  search,  was 
found  to  have  scars  upon  her  back  which  were  called 
the  devil's  mark.  This  took  place  on  the  first  of 
March.  About  three  weeks  afterwards,  two  other  wo- 
men^ of  good  character  and  church  members,  Corey 
and  Nurse,  were  complained  of  and  brought  to 
an  examination  ;  on  which  these  children  fell  into  fits, 
and  the  mother  of  one  of  them,  the  wife  of  Thomas 
Putman,  joined  with  the  children,  and  complained  of 
Nurse  as  tormenting  her ;  she  made  most  terrible 
shrieks,  to  the  amazement  of  all  the  neighborhood. 
The  women,  notwithstanding  they  denied  every  thing, 
were  sent  to  prison ;  and  such  was  the  infatuation,  that 
a  child  of  Sarah  Good,  about  four  or  five  years  old,  was 
also  committed,  being  charged  with  biting  some  of  the 
afflicted,  who  showed  the  print  of  small  teeth  on 
their  arms.  On  April  3d,  Mr.  Parris  took  for  his 
text,  "  Have  not  I  chosen  you  twelve,  and  one  of  you 
is  a  devil."  Sarah  Cloyse,  supposing  it  to  be  occa- 


80  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

sioned  by  Nurse's  case,  who  was  her  sister,  went  out 
of  meeting ;  and  she  was,  thereupon,  complained  of 
for  a  witch,  examined,  and  committed.  Elizabeth 
Proctor  was  charged  about  the  same  time  ;  her  hus- 
band accompanied  her  to  her  examination,  but  it 
cost  him  his  life.  Some  of  the  afflicted  cried  out 
upon-  him  also,  and  they  were  both  committed  to 
prison. 

The  subject  acquired  new  interest ;  and,  to  examine 
Sarah  Cloyse  and  Elizabeth  Proctor,  the  deputy  go- 
vernor and  five  other  magistrates  came  to  Salem.  It 
was  a  great  day ;  several  ministers  were  present. 
Parris  officiated ;  and,  by  his  own  record,  it  is  plain 
that  he  himself  elicited  every  accusation.  His  first 
witness,  John,  the  Indian  servant,  husband  to  Tituba, 
was  rebuked  by  Sarah  Cloyse,  as  a  grievous  liar. 
Abigail  Williams,  the  niece  of  Parris,  was  also  at 
hand  with  her  tales :  the  prisoner  had  been  at  the 
witches'  sacrament.  Struck  with  horror,  Sarah 
Cloyse  asked  for  water,  and  sank  down  "  in  a  dying, 
fainting  fit."  "  Her  spirit,"  shouted  the  band  of  the 
afflicted,  "  is  gone  to  prison  to  her  sister  Nurse." 
Against  Elizabeth  Proctor,  the  niece  of  Parris  told 
stories,  yet  more  foolish  than  false :  the  prisoner  had 
invited  her  to  sign  the  devil's  book.  "  Dear  child," 
exclaimed  the  accused  in  her  agony,  "  it  is  not  so. 
There  is  another  judgment,  dear  child  ; "  and  her 
accusers,  turning  towards  her  husband,  declared  that 
he,  too,  was  a  wizzard.  All  three  were  committed.1 


1  Bancroft,  iii,  86.     A  copy  of  the  original  record  of  this  exam- 
ination is  preserved  in  Hutchinson,  ii,  27,  1st  edit. 


WITCHCRAFT.  81 

No  wonder  that  the  whole  country  was  in  a  con- 
sternation, when  persons  of  sober  lives  and  unblem- 
ished characters  were  committed,  to  prison  upon 
sucK" evidence.  Nobody  was  safe.  \fhe  most  effectual 
way  to  prevent  an  accusation,  was  to  become  an  ac- 
CII-IT:  and.  accordingly,  the  number  of  the  alHictcd 
increased  every  day,  and  the  number  of  the  accused 
in  propoi  tion/^Ys  yet  no  one  had  confessed  :  but  at 
length  Deliverance  Hobbs  owned  every  thing  that 
was  asked  of  her,  and  was  left  unharmed.  Then  it 


was,  that  the  monstrousdoctrine  seems  to  have  been 
first  thought  of,  that  jj^he  gallows  was  to  be  set  up, 
not  for  those  who  professed  themselves  witches,  but 
for  those  who  rebuked  the  delusion,"  not  for  the 
guilty,  but  for  the  unbelieving.  As  might  be  ex- 
pected, confessions  rose  in  importance.  They  were 
the  avenue  of  safe^^Examinations  and  commit- 
ments were  of  daily  occurrence,  and  the  whole  commu- 
nity was  in  a  state  of  terror  and  alarm,  which  can  more 
easily  be  imagined  than  described.  The  purest  life, 
the  strictest  integrity,  the  most  solemn  asseverations 
of  innocence,  were  of  no  avail.  Husband  was  torn 
from  wife,  parents  from  children,  brother  from  sister ; 
and,  in  some  cases,  the  unhappy  victims  saw  in  their 
accusers  their  nearest  and  dearest  friends ;  in  one 
instance,  a  wife  and  a  daughter  accused  the  husband 
and  father  to  save  themselves,  and,  in  another,  a 
daughter  seven  years  old  testified  against  her  i/ 
mother. 

The  manner  in  which  the  examinations  were  con- 
ducted was  eminently  calculated  to  increase  the  num- 
ber of  the  accused  and  of  the  accusers.  Mr.  Parris 


82  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

was  present  at  all  of  them,  and  was  over  officious, 
putting  leading  questions  and  artfully  entrapping  the 
witnesses  into  contradictions,  by  which  they  became 
confused,  and  were  eagerly  cried  out  upon  as  guilty 
'  of  the  offence.  The  appearance  of  the  persons'ac- 
cused  was  also  carefully  noted  by  the  magistrates, 
and  was  used  in  evidence  against  them  at  their  trials. 
"  As  to  the  method  which  the  Salem  justices  do 
take,"  says  a  contemporary  writer,  "  it  is  truly  this. 
A  warrant  being  issued  out  to  apprehend  the  per- 
sons that  are  charged  and  complained  of  by  trie 
afflicted  children,  as  they  are  called  ;  said  persons  are 
brought  before  the  justices,  the  afflicted  being  present. 
The  justices  ask  the  apprehended  why  they  afflict 
these  poor  children  ;  to  which  the  apprehended  an- 
swer, they  do  not  afflict  them.  The  justices  order 
the  apprehended  to  look  upon  the  said  children, 
which  accordingly  they  do ;  and  at  the  time  of  that 
look  (I  dare  not  say  by  that  look,  as  the  Salem  gen- 
tlemen do),  the  afflicted  are  cast  into  a  fit.  ^The  ap- 
prehended are  then  blinded,  and  ordered  to  touch 
the  afflicted ;  and,  at  that  touch,  though  not  by  that 
touch  (as  above),  the  afflicted  do  ordinarily  come  out 
of  their  fits,  j  The  afflicted  persons  then  declare  and 
affirm,  that  the  apprehended  have  afflicted  them  •' 
upon  which  the  apprehended  persons,  though  of 
never  so  good  repute,  are  forthwith  committed  t6 
prison,  on  suspicion  of  witchcraft."  ' 

The  manner  of  these  examinations  has  also  been 


1  Letter  of  Rev.  Thomas  Brattle,  dated  Oct.  2, 1692 ;    Coll 
of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society,  v,  61. 


ections 


WITCHCRAFT.  83 

described  by  an  eye  witness.  The  wife  of  Jonathan 
Carey,  of  Charlestown,  having  been  committed  to 
prison,  he  gave  an  account  of  her  examination.1 
"Having  heard,  some  days,  that  my  wife  was  accused 
of  witchcraft,  being  much  disturbed  at  it,  by  advice 
we  went  to  Salem  village,  to  see  if  the  afflicted  knew 
her ;  we  arrived  there  24th  May ;  it  happened  to  be 
a  day  appointed  for  examination ;  accordingly,  soon 
after  our  arrival,  Mr.  Hathorn  and  Mr.  Curwin,  &c., 
went  to  the  meeting  house,  which  was  the  place  ap- 
pointed for  that  work ;  the  minister  began  with 
prayer,  and  having  taken  care  to  get  a  convenient 
place,  I  observed  that  the  afflicted  were  two  girls  of 
about  ten  y^ears  old,  and  some  two  or  three  others  of 
about  eighteen ;  one  of  the  girls  talked  most,  and 
could  discern  mcfre  than  the  rest.  The  prisoners 
were  called  in  one  by  one,  and  as  they  came  in  were 
cried  out  upon.  The  prisoners  were  placed  about 
seven  or  eight  feet  from  the  justices,  and  the  accusers 
between  the  justices  and  them ;  the  prisoners  were 
ordered  to  stand  right  before  the  justices,  with  an 
officer  appointed  to  hold  each  hand,  lest  they  should 
therewith  afflict  them  ;  and  the  prisoners'  eyes  must 
be  constantly  on  the  justices ;  for  if  they  looked  on 
the  afflicted,  they  would  either  fall  into  their  fits,  or 
cry  out  of  being  hurt  by  them.  After  an  examina- 
tion of  the  prisoners,  who  it  was  afflicted  these  girls, 
&.C.,  they  were  put  upon  saying  the  Lord's  prayer, 
as  a  trial  of  their  guilt.  After  the  afflicted  seemed 
to  be  out  of  their  fits,  they  would  look  steadfastly  on 

1  Calef,  95,  1st  edit. 


84  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

some  one  person,  and  frequently  not  speak  ;  and  then 
the  justices  said  they  were  struck  dumb,  and  after  a 
little  time  would  speak  again  ;  then  the  justices  said 
to  the  accusers,  which  of  you  will  go  and  touch  the 
prisoner  at  the  bar?  Then  the  most  courageous 
would  adventure,  but  before  they  had  made  three 
steps  would  ordinarily  fall  down  as  in  a  fit.  The 
justices  ordered  that  they  should  be  taken  up  and 
carried  to  the  prisoner,  that  she  might  touch  them : 
and  as  soon  as  they  were  touched  by  the  accused, 
the  justices  would  say,  they  are  well,  before  I  could 
discern  any  alteration ;  by  which  I  observed  that  the 
justices  understood  the  manner  of  it.  Thus  far  I 
was  only  as  a  spectator ;  my  wife  also  was  there  part 
of  the  time,  but  no  notice  taken  of  her  by  the  afflicted, 
except  once  or  twice  they  came  to  her  and  asked  her 
name. 

"  But  I  having  an  opportunity  to  discourse  with  Mr. 
Hale,  (with  whom  I  had  formerly  acquaintance)  I 
took  his  advice  what  I  had  best  to  do,  and  desired  of 
him  that  I  might  have  an  opportunity  to  speak  with 
her  that  accused  my  wife  ;  which  he  promised  should 
be,  I  acquainting  him  that  I  reposed  my  trust  in  him. 
Accordingly  he  came  to  me  after  the  examination 
was  over,  and  told  me  I  had  now  an  opportunity  to 
speak  with  the  said  accuser,  viz.,  Abigail  Williams,  a 
girl  of  eleven  or  twelve  years  old  ;  but  that  we  could 
not  be  in  private  at  Mr.  Parris's  house,  as  he  had 
promised  me  ;  we  went  therefore  into  the  ale  house, 
where  an  Indian  man  attended  us,  who  it  seems  was 
one  of  the  afflicted  ;  to  him  we  gave  some  cider ;  he 
showed  several  scars,  that  seemed  as  if  they  had 


WITCHCRAFT.  85 

been  long  there,  and  showed  them  as  done  by  witch- 
craft, and  acquainted  us  that  his  wife,  who  also  was 
a  slave,  was  imprisoned  for  witchcraft.  And  now, 
instead  of  one  accuser,  they  all  came  in,  and  began 
to  tumble  down  like  swine ;  and  then  three  women 
were  called  in  to  attend  them.  We  in  the  room  were 
all  at  a  stand,  to  see  who  they  would  cry  out  upon  ; 
but  in  a  short  time  they  cried  out  '  Gary  ; '  and  imme- 
diately after  a  warrant  was  sent  from  the  justices  to 
bring  my  wife  before  them,  who  were  in  a  chamber, 
near  by,  waiting  for  this. 

"  Being  brought  before  the  justices,  her  chief  ac- 
cusers were  two  girls.     My  wife  declared  to  the  jus- 
tices, that  she  never  had  any  knowledge  of  them  * 
before  that  day.     She  was  forced  to  stand  with  her  ' 
arms  stretched  out.     I  requested  that  I  might  hold 
one  of  her  hands,  but  it  was  denied  me ;  then  she 
desired  me  to  wipe  the  tears  from  her  eyes,  and  the 
sweat  from  her  face,  which  I  did  ;  then  she  desired 
she  might  lean  herself  on  me,  saying  she  should 
faint. 

"  Justice  Hathorn  replied,  she  had  strength  enough 
to  torment  those  persons,  and  she  should  have  strength  ' 
enough  to  stand.     I  speaking  something  against  their  ^ 
cruel  proceedings,  they  commanded  me  to  be  silent, 
or  else  I  should  be  turned  out  of  the  room.     The 
Indian  before  mentioned  was  also  brought  in,  to  be 
one  of  her  accusers :  being  come  in,  he  now  (when 
before  the  justice)  fell  down  and  tumbled  about  like 
a  hog,  but   said  nothing.     The  justices  asked  the  *> 
girls  who  afflicted  the  Indian  ;  they  answered,  she, 


Ob  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

(meaning  my  wife)  and  that  she  now  lay  upon  him  ; 
the  justices  ordered  her  to  touch  him,  in  order  to  his 
cure,  but  her  head  must  be  turned  another  way,  lest, 
instead  of  curing,  she  should  make  him  worse,  by 
her  looking  on  him,  her  hand  being  guided  to  take 
hold  of  his ;  but  the  Indian  took  hold  of  her  hand, 
and  pulled  her  down  on  the  floor  in  a  barbarous 
manner ;  then  his  hand  was  taken  off,  and  her  hand 
put  on  his,  and  the  cure  was  quickly  wrought.  I, 
-'  being  exceedingly  troubled  at  their  inhuman  dealings, 
uttered  a  hasty  speech,  that  Godivould  take  vengeance 
on  them,  and  desired  that  God  would  deliver  us  out  of 
the  hands  of  unmerciful  men.  Then  her  mittimus 
was  writ.  I  did  with  difficulty  and  charge  obtain 
the  liberty  of  a  room,  but  no  beds  in  it ;  if  there  had 
been,  we  could  have  taken  but  little  rest  that  night. 
She  was  committed  to  Boston  prison  ;  but  I  obtained  a 
habeas  corpus  to  remove  her  to  Cambridge  prison, 
which  was  in  our  county  of  Middlesex.  Having  been 
there  one  night,  next  morning  the  jailer  put  irons  on 
her  legs  (having  received  such  a  command ;)  the 
weight  of  them  was  about  eight  pounds ;  these  irons 
and  her  other  afflictions  soon  brought  her  into  con- 
vulsion fits,  so  that  I  thought  she  would  have  died 
that  night.  I  sent  to  entreat  that  the  irons  might  be 
taken  off;  but  all  entreaties  were  vain  if  it  would 
have  saved  her  life,  so  that  in  this  condition  she  must 
continue. 

The  trials  at  Salem  coming  on,  I  went  thither, 
to  see  how  things  were  managed ;  and  finding 
that  the  spectre  evidence  was  there  received,  to- 


WITCHCRAFT.  87 

\S 

gether  with  idle,  if  not  malicious  stories,  against 
people's  lives,  I  did  easily  perceive  which  way  the 
rest  would  go ;  for  the  same  evidence  that  served  for 
one,  would  serve  for  all  the  rest.  I  acquainted  her 
with  her  danger ;  and  that  if  she  was  carried  to 
Salem  to  be  tried,  I  feared  she  would  never  return. 
I  did  my  utmost  that  she  might  have  her  trial  in  our 
own  county,  I  with  several  others  petitioning  the 
judge  for  it,  and  were  put  in  hopes  of  it ;  but  I  soon 
saw  so  much,  that  I  understood  thereby  it  was  not 
intended,  which  put  me  upon  consulting  the  means 
of  her  escape  ;  which  through  the  goodness  of  God 
was  effected,  and  she  got  to  Rhode  Island,  but  soon 
found  herself  not  safe  when  there,  by  reason  of  the 
pursuit  after  her ;  from  thence  she  went  to  New 
York,  along  with  some  others  that  had  escaped  their 
cruel  hands ;  where  we  found  his  excellency,  Benja- 
min Fletcher,  Esq.,  governor,  who  was  very  courteous 
to  us.  After  this,  some  of  my  goods  were  seized,  in 
a  friend's  hands,  with  whom  I  had  left  them,  and 
myself  imprisoned  by  the  sheriff,  and  kept  in  custody 
half  a  day,  and  then  dismissed;  but  to  speak  of 
their  usage  of  the  prisoners,  and  the  inhumanity 
shown  to  them  at  the  time  of  their  execution,  no 
sober  Christian  could  bear.  They  had  also  trials  of 
cruel  mockings  ;  which  is  the  more,  considering  what 
a  people  for  religion,  I  mean  the  profession  of  it,  we 
have  been ;  those  that  suffered  being  many  of  them 
church  members,  and  most  of  them  unspotted  in 
their  conversation,  till  their  adversary  the  devil  took 
up  this  method  of  accusing  them." 


88  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

/ 

Several  of  the  records  of  these  examinations, 
taken  by  Parris  and  certified  by  the  justices,  are  still 
preserved.  They  exhibit  the  means  taken  to  entrap 
those  accused,  and  give  evidence  of  no  little  acute- 
ness  and  courage  on  their  part.  When  Mary  Coffin 
was  brought  before  the  justices,  the  accusing  wit- 
nesses at  first  fell  into  fits,  and  then  asserted  that  she 
was  the  cause  of  them. 

"  What  do  you  say,"  she  was  asked,  "  are  you 
guilty  or  not  guilty  ?  " 

"  I  can  say  before  Christ  Jesus,  I  am  free." 

"  You  see  these  accuse  you." 

"  There  is  a  God ." 

"  What  have  you  done  to  these  children  ?  " 

"  I  know  nothing." 

"  How  can  you  say  that  you  know  nothing,  when 
you  see  these  are  tormented  and  accuse  you." 

"  Would  you  have  me  accuse  myself  ?  " 

"  Yes ;  if  you  be  guilty.  How  far  have  you  com- 
plied with  Satan,  whereby  he  takes  this  advantage 
over  you? " 

"  Sir,  I  never  complied,  but  prayed  against  him  all 
my  days.  I  have  no  compliance  with  Satan  in  this  ; 
what  would  you  have  me  do  ?  " 

"Confess  if  you  be  guilty." 

"  I  will  say  it,  if  it  be  my  last  words.  I  am  clear 
of  this  sin." 

The  witnesses  were  immediately  struck  dumb  and 
fell  into  fits.  When  the  prisoner's  hands  were  closed, 
those  of  the  witnesses  were  closed  likewise,  and  when 
she  bowed  her  head,  their  heads  were  bowed.  At 


WITCHCRAFT.  89 

length,  they  shrieked  out  in  a  frightful  manner,  and 
redoubled  their  accusations  of  being  tormented  by 
the  prisoner.  "  What  say  you  to  this  ? "  was  de- 
manded of  her.  "  God  only  knows,"  was  the  reply 
of  the  poor  woman,  "  it  is  an  evil  spirit,  but  whether 
it  be  witchcraft,  I  do  not  know ; "  and  she  was  com- 
mitted to  jail  for  trial. 

^Confession  being  the  easiest  mode  of  escape,  many 
were  driven  to  it  by  their  own  fears  or  the  urgent 
entreaties  of  their  friends.  Others,  when  they  saw 
the  distress  of  those  afflicted  and  heard  their  solemn 
declarations,  that  the  shapes  or  spectres  of  the  ac- 
cused afflicted  them,  persuaded  themselves  that  they  " 
were  witches ;  that  evil  spirits  had  in  some  manner, 
of  which  they  were  ignorant,  got  possession  of  their 
hearts  and  afflicted  others  in  their  shapes  ;  and  they 
confessed  themselves  guilt^^mit,  in  some  cases,  • 
admissions  were  extorted  by  most  cruel  methods.  On 
one^occasion,  two  young  men  would  not  confess  any 
thing,  until  they  were  tied  ^together  neck  and  heels, 
when  they  accused  their  own  mother.  In  other  in- 
stances, those  accused  were  led  to  confession  by  se- 
vere and  artful  examinations  before  the  magistrateglx* 
Margaret  Jacobs,  having  been  thus  led  into  confessing 
herself  a  witch,  accused  Mr.  Burroughs,  a  minister  who 
was  subsequently  executed,  and  also  her  own  grand- 
father ;  but,  struck  with  horror,  she  chose  to  lose  her 
own  life,  rather  than  persist  in  her  confession ;  and 
begged  forgiveness  of  Burroughs,  before  his  execu- 
tion, who  is  said  to  have  freely  forgiven  her  ;  and 
recanted  all  she  had  said  against  her  grandfather,  but 
8* 


90  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

in  vain  as  to  his  life.1  Her  own  life  was  saved  by  a 
disorder  in  her  head,  which  prevented  her  trial  at 
the  first  court ;  but  before  the  next  court,  she  made 
a  formal  recantation  of  all  she  had  confessed,  and 
delivered  it  to  the  judges. 

"  The  humble  declaration  of  Margaret  Jacobs  unto 
the  honored  court  now  sitting  at  Salem,  showeth,  that 
whereas  your  poor  and  humble  declarant,  being 
closely  confined  here  in  Salem  gaol,  for  the  crime  of 
witchcraft,  which  crime,  thanks  be  to  the  Lord;  I  am 
altogether  ignorant  of,  as  will  appear  at  the  great 
day  of  judgment :  may  it  please  the  honored  court, 
I  was  cried  out  upon  by  some  of  the  possessed  per- 
sons, as  afflicting  them  ;  whereupon  I  was  brought  to 
my  examination,  which  persons  at  the  sight  of  me 
fell  down,  which  did  very  much  startle  and  affright 
me.  The  Lord  above  knows  I  knew  nothing,  in  the 
least  measure,  how  or  who  afflicted  them ;  they  told 
me,  without  doubt  I  did,  or  else  they  would  not  fall 
down  at  me ;  they  told  me,  if  I  would  not  confess,  I 
should  be  put  down  into  the  dungeon,  and  would  be 
hanged,  but  if  I  would  confess,  I  should  have  my 

1  A  short  time  after  the  execution  of  Mr.  Burroughs  and  her 
grandfather,  the  wretched  woman  wrote  an  affecting  letter  to  her 
father,  dated  "  from  the  dungeon  in  Salem  prison,  August  20,  "92." 
"  The  reason  of  my  confinement  here,"  she  says,  "  is  this,  I  having, 
through  the  magistrates'  threatenings,  and  my  own  vile  and 
wretched  heart,  confessed  several  things  contrary  to  my  conscience 
and  knowledge,  though  to  the  wounding  of  my  own  soul,  the  Lord 
pardon  me  for  it ;  but  oh  !  the  terrors  of  a  wounded  conscience 
who  can  bear."  "  Dear  father,  let  me  beg  your  prayers  to  the 
Lord  on  my  behalf,  and  send  us  a  joyful  and  happy  meeting  in 
heaven.  My  mother,  poor  woman,  is  very  crazy,  and  remembers 
her  kind  love  to  you." 


WITCHCRAFT.  91     x 

life ;  the  which  did  so  affright  me,  and,  with  my  own 
vile  wicked  heart,  to  save  my  life,  made  me  make 
the  confession  I  did,  which  confession,  may  it  please 
the  honored  court,  is  altogether  false  and  untrue. 
The  very  first  night  after  I  had  made  confession,  I 
was  in  such  horror  of  conscience,  that  I  could  not 
sleep  for  fear  the  devil  should  carry  me  away  for  tel- 
ling such  horrid  lies.  I  was,  may  it  please  the  hon- 
ored court,  sworn  to  my  confession,  as  I  understand 
since,  but  then,  at  that  time,  was  ignorant  of  it,  not 
knowing  what  an  oath  did  mean.  The  Lord,  I  hope, 
in  whom  I  trust,  out  of  the  abundance  of  his  mercy, 
will  forgive  me  my  false  forswearing  myself.  What 
I  said,  was  altogether  false  against  my  grandfather, 
and  Mr.  Burroughs,  which  I  did  to  save  my  life  and 
to  have  my  liberty ;  but  the  Lord,  charging  it  to  my 
conscience,  made  me  in  so  much  horror,  that  I  could 
not  contain  myself  before  I  had  denied  my  confes- 
sion, which  I  did,  though  I  saw  nothing  but  death 
before  me,  choosing  rather  death  with  a  quiet  con- 
science, than  to  live  in  such  horror,  which  I  could 
not  suffer.  Where,  upon  my  denying  my  con- 
fession, I  was  committed  to  close  prison,  where 
I  have  enjoyed  more  felicity  in  spirit,  a  thousand 
times,  than  I  did  before  in  my  enlargement.  And 
now,  may  it  please  your  honors,  your  declarant, 
having,  in  part,  given  your  honors  a  description 
of  my  condition,  do  leave  it  to  your  honors'  pious 
and  judicious  discretions,  to  take  pity  and  compas- 
sion on  my  young  and  tender  years,  to  act  and  do 
with  me,  as  the  Lord  above  and  your  honors  shall 
see  good,  having  no  friend,  but  the  Lord,  to  plead 


92  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

my  cause  for  me  ;  not  being  guilty  in  the  least  meas- 
ure of  the  crime  of  witchcraft,  nor  any  other  sin  that 
deserves  death  from  man  ;  and  your  poor  and  humble 
declarant  shall  for  ever  pray,  as  she  is  bound  in  duty, 
for  your  honors'  happiness  in  this  life  and  eternal 
felicity  in  the  world  to  come.  So  prays  your  honors' 
declarant." 

The  prisoners  had  been  increasing  from  the  middle 
of  February,  until  June.  The  jails  of  Essex  and 
the  neighboring  counties  were  full,  and  there  had 
been  no  trials.  «Q|^  May,  the  new  charter  and  the  royal 
governor,  Sir  William  Phipps,  arrived  in  Boston.  The 
latter,  a  firm  believer  in  witchcraft,  finding  the  pris- 
ons filled  with  victims,  charged  with  this  offence, 
and,  urged  on  by  the  seeming  emergency  of  the  oc- 
casion, issued  his  special  commission,  constituting  the 
persons  named  in  it  a  court  to  act  in  and  for  the 
(Counties  of  Suffolk,  Essex,  and  Middlesex.  This 
court,  beyond  all  question  an  illegal  tribunal,  be- 
cause the  governor  had  no  shadow  of  authority  to 
constitute  itT^onsisted  of  seven  judges,  namely ; 
William  Stoughton,  the  lieutenant  governor,  chief 
justice,  Nathaniel  Saltonstal,  who  subsequently  re- 
fused to  act,  and  his  place  was  supplied  by  Jonathan 
Curwin,  John  Richards,  Bartholomew  Gedney,  Wait 
Winthrop,  Samuel  Sewall,  and  Peter  Sergeant.  The 
date  of  their  commission  was  the  second  of  June,  1692, 
and  on  the  same  day  the  court  convened  at  Salem. 
It  was  a  popular  tribunal ;  there  was  not  a  lawyer  con- 
cerned in  its  proceedings.  Stoughton  and  Sewall  had 
been  educated  clergymen  ;  Winthrop  and  Gedney  as 
physicians  ;  Richards  was  a  merchant ;  Sergeant  was 


WITCHCRAFT.  93 

an  influential  man  in  the  colony  ;  and  Saltonstal,  who 
refused  to  proceed  against  those  suspected  of  witch- 
craft, was  an  educated  man,  graduated  at  Cambridge, 
in  1659  ;  and  afterwards  became  distinguished  as  a 
military  commander. 

At  the  opening  of  the  court  at  Salem,  on  the  second 
of  June,  1692,  the  commission  of  the  governor  was 
published,  and  the  oath  of  office  was  administered  to 
Thomas  Newton  as  attorney  general,  and  to  Stephen 
Sewall  as  clerk,  ^fke  chief  justice  then  delivered  a 
charge  to  the  grand  jury,  in  which  he  told  them 
they  were  not  to  mind  whether  the  bodies  of  the 
afflicted  were  really  pined  and  consumed  as  was 
expressed  in  the  indictment,  but  whether  the 
afflicted  did  not  suffer  from  the  accused  such  afflic- 
tions as  naturally  tended  to  their  being  pined  and 
consumed.  This,  said  he,  is  a  pining  and  consuming 
in  the  sense  of  the  law^^ 

The  general  course  of  proceedings,  at  these  trials, 
was  entirely  consistent  with  the  character  of  the 
court  and  the  nature  of  their  business.  After  plead- 
ing to  the  indictment,  if  the  prisoner  denied  his 
guilt,  the  afflicted  persons  were  first  brought  into 

1  Brattle's  letter;  Mass.  His.  Soc.  Coll.  v,  60.  Mr.  Washburn, 
in  his  Judicial  History  of  Massachusetts, says  that  Antony  Checkley 
was  the  attorney  general  at  these  trials ;  but  Thomas  Newton  appears 
to  have  acted  in  that  capacity  at  the  first  session  of  the  court  on 
June  2.  Checkley's  commission  from  governor  Phipps,  is  dated 
July  7.  1  find  among  the  papers  relating  to  these  trials  at  Salem, 
one  containing  the  form  of  oath  administered  to  Newton  as  the 
prosecuting  officer,  concluding  thus :  "  Salem,  June  2, 1692.  Tho- 
mas Newton  took  the  oath  aforesaid  in  open  court,  before  me.  Win. 
Stoughton."  It  is  probable,  that  Checkley  acted  as  prosecuting 
officer  at  the  subsequent  trials. 


94  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

court  and  sworn  as  to  who  afflicted  them.  Then  the 
•confessors,  that  is,  those  who  had  voluntarily  ac- 
knowledged themselves  witches,  were  called  upon  to 
tell  what  they  knew  of  the  accused  ;  "  a  thing,"  said 
Brattle,  who  wrote  at  the  time,  "  which  I  believe  was 
never  heard  of  in  this  world,  that  such  as  confess 
themselves  to  be  witches,  to  have  renounced  God 
and  Christ,  and  all  that  is  sacred,  should  yet  be  al- 
lowed and  ordered  to  swear  by  the  name  of  the 
great  God !  "ij^Troclamation  was  then  made  for  all 
who  could  give  any  testimony,  however  foreign  to 
the  charge,  to  come  into  court,  and  whatever  any 
one  volunteered  to  tell  was  admitted  as  evidence^, 
lj?he  next  process  was  to  search  for  "  witch  .marks,"" 
the  doctrine  being  that  the  devil  affixed  his  mark  to 
those  in  alliance  with  him,  and  that  this  point  on 
the  body  became  callous  and  dead.  This  duty  was 
performed  by  a  jury  of  the  same  sex,  who  made  a 
particular  return  of  the  appearance  of  the  body,  and 
whether  there  was  any  preternatural  excrescence.  A 
wart  or  a  mole  on  the  body  of  a  prisoner  was  often 
conclusive  against  him,  when  the  evidence  was  oth- 
erwise doubtful.  These  examinations  in  the  case  of 
women  were  made  by  a  jury  of  matrons,  aided  by 
a  medical  man  as  foreman.  They  were  very  mi- 
nute, and,  in  some  respects,  the  most  cruel  and 
disgusting  part  of  the  proceedings.  The  unhappy 
prisoners  were  not  only  subjected  to  the  mortification 
of  a  gross  exposure  before  the  jury  of  examination, 
but  when  any  witch  mark  was  found,  it  was  punctured 
with  pins  to  ascertain  whether  there  was  any  feeling. 
There  were  usually  several  examinations  of  the  same 


WITCHCBAFT.  95 

individual.  In  one  instance,  a  woman  was  examined 
at  10  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  at  4  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  the  jury  certified  that  they  had  again  ex- 
amined her,  and  that  her  breast,  which  "  in  the 
morning  search  appeared  to  us  very  full,  the  nibblis 
fresh  and  starting,  now  at  this  search  all  lancke  and 
pendant."  Of  the  nine  women  who  were  on  this 
jury,  but  one  could  write  her  name ;  the  remainder 
made  their  marks. 

Evidence  was  also  received  respecting  the  appear- 
ance of  the  accused  at  the  preliminary  examinations ; 
and  the  various  signs  of  witchcraft  which  then  ap- 
peared were  detailed  with  much  particularity.  It  was 
a  great  sign  of  witchcraft  to  make  an  error  in  the 
Lotd!s_  prayer,  which  the  accused  on  those  occa- 
sions were  required  to  repeat,  and  if  they  made  „ 
a  single  error,  it  was  brought  up  at  their  trial  as 
evidence  against  them.  Thus,  one  repeated  the 
prayer  correctly  in  every  particular,  excepting  that 
she  said  "  deliver  us  from  all  evil,"  "  which  was 
looked  upon  as  if  she  prayed  against  what  she  was 
now  justly  under."  Upon  making  another  attempt, 
she  said  "  hollowed  be  thy  name,"  instead  of  "  hal- 
lowed be  thy  name  ;  "  and  this  "  was  counted  a  de- 
praving the  words,  as  signifying  to  make  void,  and  so 
a  curse,  rather  than  a  prayer."  The  appearance  of 
the  accused,  and  of  those  supposed  to  be  bewitched, 
also  had  an  effect  against  the  prisoner.  Sometimes 
the  witnesses  were  struck  dumb  for  a  long  time  ;  at 
others,  they  would  fall  into  terrible  fits,  and  were  in- 
sensible to  the  touch  of  all  but  the  accused,  who  they 
declared  tormented  them.  Sometimes  the  accused 


96  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

were  ordered  to  look  on  the  afflicted,  when  the  latter 
would  be  immediately  thrown  into  fits.  It  was 
thought  that  an  invisible  and  impalpable  fluid  darted 
from  the  eyes  of  the  witch  and  penetrated  the  brain 
of  the  bewitched.  A  touch  by  the  witch  attracted 
back  the  malignant  fluid,  and  the  sufferers  recovered 
their  senses.1  Another  sign  of  witchcraft,  of  great 
consideration,  was  an  inability  of  the  accused  to  shed 
tears. 

\There  was  one  species  of  evidence  which  was  of 
great  effect  in  these  prosecutions,  and  which  it  was 
impossible  to  rebut.  Witnesses  were  allowed  to  tes- 
tify to  certain  acts  of  the  accused,  when  the  latter 
were  not  present  in  the  body ;  that  they  were  tor- 
mented by  apparitions  or  spectres  of  the  accused, 
which  pinched  them,  robbed  them  of  their  goods, 
caused  them  to  languish  and  pine  away,  pricked 
them  ;  and  they  produced  Jthe  identical  pins  which 
were  used  for  this  purpose.*/" 

1  Upham's  Lectures  on  Witchcraft,  41.  The  similarity  of  these 
symptoms  to  those  produced  by  the  mesmerism  or  animal  mag- 
netism of  the  present  day  is  worthy  of  observation. 

*  They  were  filed  away  with  the  other  evidence  in  these  cases, 
and  may  be  examined  at  the  present  day.  \The  testimony  appears 
to  have  been  reduced  to  writing.  This  was^sbmetimes  done  at  the 
trial,  when  the  witness  swore  to  the  correctness  of  what  had  been 
taken  down.  Sometimes  the  evidence  would  seem  to  have  been 
taken  weeks  and  months  before,  and  the  witness  would  "  give  it 
in  "  at  the  trial.  In  other  cases,  evidence  thus  taken  was  used 
although  the  witness  was  not  present  at  the  trial.  In  some  in- 
stances, the  testimony  was  taken  and  sworn  to  before  the  grand 
jury,  and  was  then  used  at  the  triaL^When  these  "  testimonies  " 
were  drawn  up  out  of  court  there  was  sometimes  a  certificate  by 
one  present  as  to  the  appearance  of  the  witnesses,  their  shrieks, 
fainting,  and  passionate  exclamations  that  they  were  tormented, 
being  all  carefully  noted  at  the  bottom  of  the  depositions. 


WITCHCRAFT.  97 

Before  giving  the  details  of  some  of  these  trials,  it 
is  proper  to  remark,  that  the  term  tjj^itch ^?  had  a 
somewhat  different  signification  at  the  period  referred 
to,  from  what  it  had  in  more  ancient  times.  It  was  ap- 
plied indiscriminately  to  either  sex,  and  designated 
(tKose  who  had  made  a  deliberate  and  formal  contract 
witn  the  devil  to  become  his  subjecfsj^nd,  in  conse- 
quence" of  this  allegiance,  he  was  supposed  to  exercise 
his  supernatural  powers  in  their  favor,  and  to  com- 
municate to  them  a  portion  of  those  powers^  It  was 
a  wilful  transferring  of  allegiance  from  God  to  the 
devil,  by  means  of  a  compact  usually  made  by  the 
witch's  signing  a  book  presented  to  her  by  the  other 
party. 

TRIAL    OF    BRIDGET    BISHOP. 

At  the  first  session  of  the  special  court  of  oyer 
and  terminer,  held  in  June,  1692,  but  one  trial  took 
place.  The  victim  selected  for  this  occasion  was 
Bridget  Bishop,  or  Oliver,  a  poor  and  friendless  old 
woman,  who  had  been  charged  with  witchcraft 
twenty  years  before.  The  indictment  against  her  set 
forth,  that  on  the  nineteenth  day  of  April,  and  at 
divers  other  days  and  times,  as  well  before  as  after, 
she  used,  practiced,  and  exercised  certain  detestable 
arts,  called  witchcrafts  and  sorceries,  at  and  within 
the  township  of  Salem,  in,  upon,  and  against  one 
Mercy  Lewis,  of  Salem  village;  by  which  wicked 
arts,  the  said  Mercy  Lewis  "was  hurt,  tortured, 
afflicted,  pined,  consumed,  wasted,  and  tormented, 
against  the  peace  of  our  sovereign  lord  and  lady,  the 
king  and  queen,  and  against  the  form  of  the  statute 


98  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

in  that  case  made  and  provided."  There  were  four 
other  indictments  against  the  prisoner,  for  the  same 
crime,  in  afflicting  other  persons.  On  her  arraign- 
ment, she  pleaded  not  guilty. 

The  fact  that  the  crime  had  been  committed,  or 
that  certain  persons  were  bewitched  by  some  one, 
was  considered  too  notorious  to  require  much  proof; 
and,  to  fix  the  crime  on  the  prisoner,  the  first  testi- 
mony adduced  was  that  of  the  persons  supposed  to 
be  bewitched.  Several  of  them  testified,  that  the 
shape  of  the  prisoner  sometimes  very  grievously 
pinched,  choaked,  bit,  and  afflicted  them ;  urging 
them  to  write  their  names  in  a  book,  which  the  said 
spectre  called  "  ours."  One  of  them  further  testified, 
that  the  shape  of  the  prisoner,  with  another,  one  day 
took  her  from  her  wheel,  and,  carrying  her  to  the  river 
side,  threatened  there  to  drown  her,  if  she  did  not 
sign  the  book.  Others  testified,  that  the  said  shape 
did  in  her  threats  brag  to  them,  that  she  had  been 
the  death  of  sundry  persons,  then  by  her  named. 
Another  testified  to  the  apparition  of  ghosts  to  the 
spectre  of  the  prisoner,  crying  out,  "  you  murdered 
us."  "  About  the  truth  whereof,"  adds  the  reporter 
of  this  trial,  "  there  was,  in  the  matter  of  fact,  but 
too  much  suspicion." 

It  was  then  testified,  that  at  the  first  examination 
of  the  prisoner  before  the  magistrates,  the  bewitched 
were  extremely  tortured.  If  she  did  but  cast  her 
eyes  on  them,  they  were  presently  cast  down  ;  and 
this  in  such  a  manner  that  there  could  be  no  collusion 
in  the  business.  But  upon  the  touch  of  her  hand 
upon  them,  when  they  lay  in  their  swoons,  they 


WITCHCRAFT.  99 

would  immediately  revive ;  and  not  upon  the  touch 
of  any  one's  else.  Moreover,  upon  some  special  ac- 
tions of  her  body,  as  the  shaking  of  her  head,  or  the 
turning  of  her  eyes,  they  presently  and  painfully  fell 
into  the  like  postures  ;  and  many  of  the  like  acci- 
dents now  fell  out,  while  she  was  at  the  bar ;  one 
at  the  same  time  testifying,  that  she  said  she  could 
not  be  troubled  to  see  the  afflicted  thus  tormented. 
There  was  testimony  likewise  brought  in,  that  a  man 
striking  once  at  the  place  where  a  bewitched  person 
said  the  shape  of  this  Bishop  stood,  the  bewitched 
cried  out,  that  he  had  torn  her  coat,  in  the  place  then 
particularly  specified  ;  and  the  woman's  coat  was 
found  to  be  torn  in  the  very  place. 

Deliverance  Hobbs,  who  had  confessed  herself  to 
be  a  witch,  testified,  that  the  spectre  of  the  prisoner 
was  then  tormenting  her  on  account  of  her  confes- 
sion, and  tempting  her  to  sign  the  book  again,  and  to 
deny  what  she  had  confessed.  She  affirmed,  that  it 
was  the  shape  of  this  prisoner,  which  whipped  her 
with  iron  rods,  to  compel  her  thereunto ;  and  she 
affirmed,  that  this  Bishop  was  at  a  general  meeting 
of  the  witches,  in  a  field  at  Salem  village,  and  there 
partook  of  a  diabolical  sacrament  in  bread  and  wine 
then  administered. 

John  Cook  testified,  that  about  five  or  six  years 
ago,  one  morning  about  sunrise,  he  was  assaulted  in 
his  chamber  by  the  shape  of  this  prisoner,  which 
looked  on  him,  grinned  at  him,  and  very  much  hurt 
him,  with  a  blow  on  the  side  of  the  head  ;  and,  that, 
on  the  same  day  about  noon,  the  same  shape  walked 
into  the  room  where  he  was,  and  an  apple  strangely 


100  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

flew  out  of  his  hand,  into  the  lap  of  his  mother,  six 
or  eight  feet  from  him. 

Samuel  Gray  testified,  that  about  fourteen  years 
ago,  he  waked  on  a  night,  and  saw  the  room  where 
he  lay  full  of  light ;  and  that  he  then  saw  plainly 
a  woman  between  the  cradle  and  the  bedside,  which 
looked  upon  him.  He  rose  and  it  vanished  ;  though 
he  found  the  doors  all  fast ;  looking  out  at  the  entry 
door,  he  saw  the  same  woman  in  the  same  garb 
again  ;  and  said,  "  in  God's  name,  what  do  you  come 
for  ?  "  He  went  to  bed,  and  had  the  same  woman 
assaulting  him.  The  child  in  the  cradle  gave  a  great 
screech,  and  the  woman  disappeared.  It  was  long 
before  the  child  could  be  quieted  ;  and  though  it  was 
a  very  likely,  thriving  child,  yet  from  this  time  it 
pined  away  and  after  divers  months  died  in  a  sad 
condition.  He  knew  not  Bishop,  nor  her  name  ;  but 
when  he  saw  her  after  this,  he  knew  by  her  counte- 
nance, and  apparel,  and  all  circumstances,  that  it  was 
the  apparition  of  this  Bishop,  which  had  thus  troubled 
him. 

John  Bly  and  his  wife  testified,  that  he  bought  a 
sow  of  Edward  Bishop,  the  husband  of  the  prisoner ; 
and  was  to  pay  the  price  agreed  unto  another  person. 
The  prisoner  being  angry  that  she  was  thus  hindered 
from  fingering  the  money,  quarrelled  with  Bly ;  soon 
after  which,  the  sow  was  taken  with  strange  fits, 
jumping,  leaping,  and  knocking  her  head  against  the 
fence  ;  she  seemed  blind  and  deaf,  and  would  neither 
eat  nor  be  sucked ;  whereupon  a  neighbor  said,  she 
believed  the  creature  was  overlooked ;  and  sundry 
other  circumstances  concurred,  which  made  the  de- 
ponents believe  that  Bishop  had  bewitched  it. 


WITCHCRAFT.  101 

Richard  Cowan  testified,  that  eight  years  ago,  as 
he  lay  awake  in  his  bed,  with  a  light  burning  in  the 
room,  he  was  annoyed  with  the  apparition  of  the 
prisoner,  and  of  two  more  that  were  strangers  to 
him,  who  came  and  oppressed  him,  so  that  he  could 
neither  stir  himself,  nor  wake  any  one  else  ;  and  that 
he  was  the  night  after  molested  again  in  the  like 
manner ;  the  said  Bishop  taking  him  by  the  throat, 
and  pulling  him  almost  out  of  the  bed.  His  kinsman 
offered  for  this  cause  to  lodge  with  him ;  and,  that 
night,  as  they  were  awake  discoursing  together,  the 
witness  was  once  more  visited  by  the  guests,  which 
had  formerly  been  so  troublesome,  his  kinsman  being 
at  the  same  time  struck  speechless,  and  unable  to 
move  hand  or  foot.  He  had  laid  his  sword  by  him, 
which  those  unhappy  spectres  did  strive  much  to 
wrest  from  him,  but  he  held  it  too  fast  for  them. 
He  then  grew  able  to  call  the  people  of  his  house ; 
but  although  they  heard  him,  yet  they  had  not  power 
to  speak  or  stir,  until  at  last,  one  of  the  people  crying 
out,  "  what  is  the  matter? "  the  spectres  all  vanished. 

Samuel  Shattock  testified,  that  in  the  year  1680, 
this  Bridget  Bishop  often  came  to  his  house  upon 
such  frivolous  and  foolish  errands,  that  they  suspected 
she  came  indeed  with  a  purpose  of  mischief.  Pre- 
sently whereupon,  his  eldest  child,  which  was  of  as 
promising  health  and  sense  as  any  child  of  its  age, 
began  to  droop  exceedingly ;  and  the  oftener  that 
Bishop  came  to  the  house,  the  worse  grew  the  child. 
As  the  child  would  be  standing  at  the  door,  he  would 
be  thrown  and  bruised  against  the  stones,  by  an  in- 
visible hand,  and  in  like  sort  knock  his  face  against 
9* 


102  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

the  sides  of  the  house,  and  bruise  it  after  a  miserable 
manner.  Afterwards,  this  Bishop  would  bring  him 
things  to  dye,  whereof  he  could  not  imagine  any  use  ; 
and  when  she  paid  him  a  piece  of  money,  the  purse 
and  money  were  unaccountably  conveyed  out  of  a 
locked  box,  and  never  seen  more.  The  child  was 
immediately  hereupon  taken  with  terrible  fits,  whereof 
his  friends  thought  he  would  have  died.  Indeed,  he 
did  almost  nothing  but  cry  and  sleep,  for  several 
months  together  ;  and  at  length  his  understanding 
was  utterly  taken  away.  Among  other  symptoms  of 
an  enchantment  upon  him,  one  was,  that  there  was  a 
board  in  the  garden  whereon  he  would  walk ;  and 
all  the  invitations  in  the  world  could  never  fetch  him 
off.  About  seventeen  or  eighteen  years  after,  there 
came  a  stranger  to  the  witness's  house,  who,  seeing 
the  child,  said,  "  this  poor  child  is  bewitched ;  and 
you  have  a  neighbor  living  not  far  off  who  is  a  witch." 
He  added,  "  your  neighbor  has  had  a  falling  out  with 
your  wife  ;  and  she  said  in  her  heart,  your  wife  is  a 
proud  woman,  and  she  would  bring  down  her  pride 
in  this  child : "  He  then  remembered,  that  Bishop 
had  parted  from  his  wife  in  muttering,  and  menacing 
terms,  a  little  before  the  child  was  taken  ill.  The 
aforesaid  stranger  would  needs  carry  the  bewitched 
boy  with  him,  to  Bishop's  house,  on  pretence  of  buy- 
ing a  pot  of  cider.  The  woman  entertained  him  in  a 
furious  manner ;  and  flew  also  upon  the  boy,  scratch- 
ing his  face  till  the  blood  came,  and  saying :  "  thou 
rogue,  what,  dost  thou  bring  this  fellow  here  to 
plague  me  ?  "  Now,  the  witness  had  said  before  he 
went,  that  he  would  fetch  blood  of  her.  Ever  after, 


WITCHCRAFT.  103 

the  boy  was  followed  with  grievous  fits,  which  the 
doctors  themselves  generally  ascribed  unto  witch- 
craft ;  and  wherein  he  would  be  thrown  still  into  the 
fire  or  water,  if  he  were  not  constantly  looked  after ; 
and  the  witness  verily  believed  that  Bishop  was  the 
cause  of  it. 

John  Louder  testified,  that  upon  some  little  con- 
troversy with  Bishop  about  her  fowls,  going  well  to 
bed,  he  awoke  in  the  night  by  moonlight,  and  saw 
clearly  the  likeness  of  this  woman  grievously  op- 
pressing him ;  in  which  miserable  condition  she 
held  him  unable  to  help  himself,  till  near  day.  He 
told  Bishop  of  this;  but  she  utterly  denied  it,  and 
threatened  him  very  much.  Quickly  after  this,  being 
at  home  on  a  Lord's  day,  with  the  doors  shut  about 
him,  he  saw  a  black  pig  approach  him  ;  which  endeav- 
oring to  kick,  it  vanished  away.  Immediately  after, 
sitting  down,  he  saw  a  black  thing  jump  in  at  the 
window,  and  come  and  stand  before  him.  The 
body  was  like  that  of  a  monkey,  the  feet  like  a 
cock's,  but  the  face  much  like  a  man's.  He  being 
so  extremely  affrighted  that  he  could  not  speak, 
this  monster  spoke  to  him  and  said :  "  I  am  a  mes- 
senger sent  unto  you,  for  I  understand  that  you 
are  in  some  trouble  of  mind,  and  if  you  will  be 
ruled  by  me,  you  shall  want  for  nothing  in  this 
world."  Whereupon  he  endeavored  to  clap  his 
hands  upon  it ;  but  he  could  feel  no  substance,  and 
it  jumped  out  of  the  window  again  ;  but  immediately 
came  in  by  the  porch,  though  the  doors  were  shut, 
and  said,  "  you  had  better  take  my  counsel."  He 
then  struck  at  it  with  a  stick,  but  struck  only  the 


104  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

groundsel,  and  broke  the  stick.  The  arm  with  which 
he  struck  was  presently  disabled ;  and  it  vanished 
away.  He  presently  went  out  at  the  back  door,  and 
spied  this  Bishop,  in  her  orchard,  going  toward  her 
house ;  but  he  had  not  power  to  set  one  foot  forward 
unto  her.  Whereupon,  returning  into  the  house,  he 
was  immediately  accosted  by  the  monster  he  had 
seen  before,  which  goblin  was  going  to  fly  at  him ; 
whereat  he  cried  out,  "  the  whole  armor  of  God  be 
between  me  and  you ! "  So  it  sprung  back,  and 
flew  over  the  apple  tree,  shaking  many  apples  off 
the  tree  in  its  flying  over.  At  its  leap,  it  flung  dirt 
with  its  feet  against  the  stomach  of  the  man  ;  where- 
on he  was  then  struck  dumb,  and  so  continued  for 
three  days  together. 

"Upon  the  producing  of  this  testimony,"  says 
Cotton  Mather,  "  Bishop  denied  that  she  knew  this 
deponent.  Yet  their  two  orchards  joined,  and  they 
had  often  had  their  little  quarrels  for  some  years  to- 
gether." 

William  Stacy  testified,  that  receiving  money  of  this 
Bishop,  for  work  done  by  him,  he  was  gone  but  a 
matter  of  three  roods  from  her,  and  looking  for  his 
money  found  it  unaccountably  gone  from  him.  Some 
time  after,  Bishop  asked  him  whether  his  father  would 
grind  her  grist  for  her  ?  He  demanded  why  ?  She 
replied,  because  folks  count  me  a  witch.  He  an- 
swered ;  "  no  question  but  he  will  grind  it  for  you." 
Being  then  gone  about  six  roods  from  her,  with  a 
load  in  his  cart,  suddenly  the  off  wheel  slumpt,  and 
sunk  down  into  an  hole,  upon  plain  ground,  so  that 
the  witness  was  forced  to  get  help  for  the  recovering 


WITCHCRAFT.  105 

of  the  wheel.  But  stepping  back  to  look  for  the  hole 
which  might  give  him  this  disaster,  there  was  none  at 
all  to  be  found.  Some  time  after,  he  was  waked  in 
the  night ;  but  it  seemed  as  light  as  day,  and  he  per- 
fectly saw  the  shape  of  this  Bishop  in  the  room, 
troubling  of  him ;  but  upon  her  going  out,  all  was 
dark  again.  He  charged  Bishop  afterwards  with  it, 
and  she  denied  it  not ;  but  was  very  angry.  Quickly 
after,  this  witness  having  been  threatened  by  Bishop, 
as  he  was  in  a  dark  night  going  to  the  barn,  he  was 
very  suddenly  taken  or  lifted  from  the  ground,  and 
thrown  against  a  stone  wall ;  after  that,  he  was  again 
hoisted  up,  and  thrown  down  a  bank,  at  the  end  of 
his  house.  After  this,  again  passing  by  this  Bishop, 
his  horse,  with  a  small  load,  striving  to  draw,  all  his 
gears  flew  to  pieces,  and  the  cart  fell  down,  and  this 
deponent  going  then  to  lift  a  bag  of  corn,  of  about 
two  bushels,  could  not  budge  it  with  all  his  might. 
Many  other  pranks  of  this  Bishop,  the  witness  was 
ready  to  relate.  He  also  testified,  that  he  verily  be- 
lieved the  said  Bishop  was  the  instrument  of  his 
daughter  Priscilla's  death ;  "  of  which  suspicion, 
pregnant  reasons  were  assigned." 

John  Bly  and  William  Ely  testified,  that  being 
employed  by  Bridget  Bishop  to  help  take  down  the 
cellar  wall  of  the  old  house  wherein  she  formerly  lived, 
they  did  in  holes  of  the  said  old  wall  find  several  pop- 
pets, made  up  of  rags  and  hog's  bristles,  with  headless 
pins  in  them,  the  points  being  outward ;  "  whereof 
the  prisoner  could  now  give  no  account  unto  the 
court  that  was  reasonable  or  tolerable." 

An  examination  of  the  prisoner  was  made  by  a 


106  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

jury  of  women,  who  reported  that  they  found  a  pre- 
ternatural "  tet "  upon  her  body,  and  on  making  a 
second  examination  within  three  or  four  hours,  there 
was  no  such  thing  to  be  seen. 

The  poor  woman  undertook  to  explain  the  circum- 
stances which  had  been  related  against  her,  but  she 
was  constantly  harrassed ;  and,  becoming  confused, 
she  apparently  prevaricated  somewhat,  and  all  she 
said  made  against  her.  She  seems  to  have  been  a 
woman  of  violent  temper,  who  had  lived  on  ill  terms 
with  her  neighbors,  for  many  years,  and  who  had  long 
had  the  reputation  of  being  a  witch.  Those  of  her 
neighbors,  who  had  suffered  from  her  uncomfortable 
disposition,  were  nothing  loth  to  attribute  all  their 
misfortunes  to  her ;  and  she  thus  stood  little  chance 
of  a  fair  trial. 

She  was  convicted  and  sentenced  to  be  hanged, 
and  was  remanded  to  prison  to  await  her  doom.  "  As 
she  was  under  a  guard,  passing  by  the  great  and 
spacious  meeting  house  of  Salem,"  — Cotton  Mather 
relates  this,  —  "  she  gave  a  look  towards  the  house  ; 
and  immediately  a  demon,  invisibly  entering  the 
meeting  house,  tore  down  a  part  of  it ;  so  that  though 
there  were  no  person  to  be  seen  there,  yet  the  people 
at  the  noise  running  in  found  a  board,  which  was 
strongly  fastened  with  several  nails,  transported  unto 
another  quarter  of  the  house."  She  was  executed 
on  the  tenth  of  June,  solemnly  protesting  her  inno- 
cence to  the  last. 

After  the  trial  and  condemnation  of  Bridget  Bishop, 
the  court  adjourned  to  the  thirtieth  of  June  ;  and  the 


WITCHCRAFT.  107 

governor  and  council  thought  proper,  in  the  mean 
time,  to  take  the  opinion  of  several  ministers  upon 
the  state  of  things  as  they  then  stood.  Their  return, 
understood  to  have  been  drawn  up  by  Cotton  Mather, 
was  as  follows. 

"  1 .  The  afflicted  state  of  our  poor  neighbors,  that 
are  now  suffering  by  molestations  from  the  invisible 
world,  we  apprehend  so  deplorable,  that  we  think 
their  condition  calls  for  the  utmost  help  of  all  per- 
sons in  their  several  capacities. 

"  2.  We  cannot  but  with  all  thankfulness  acknow- 
ledge the  success,  which  the  merciful  God  has  given 
to  the  sedulous  and  assiduous  endeavors  of  our  hon- 
orable rulers,  to  defeat  the  abominable  witchcrafts 
which  have  been  committed  in  the  country,  humbly 
praying,  that  the  discovery  of  those  mysterious  and 
mischievous  wickednesses  may  be  perfected. 

"  3.  We  judge  that  in  the  prosecution  of  these 
and  all  such  witchcrafts,  there  is  need  of  a  very  criti- 
cal and  exquisite  caution,  lest  by  too  much  credulity 
for  things  received  only  upon  the  devil's  authority, 
there  be  a  door  opened  for  a  long  train  of  miserable 
consequences,  and  Satan  get  an  advantage  over  us  ; 
for  we  should  not  be  ignorant  of  his  devices. 

"  4.  As,  in  complaints  upon  witchcrafts,  there  may 
be  matters  of  inquiry  which  do  not  amount  unto 
matters  of  presumption,  and  there  may  be  matters  of 
presumption  which  yet  may  not  be  matters  of  convic- 
tion, so  it  is  necessary,  that  all  proceedings,  thereabout, 
be  managed  with  an  exceeding  tenderness  toward  those 
that  may  be  complained  of,  especially  if  they  have  been 
persons  formerly  of  an  unblemished  reputation. 


108  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

"  5.  When  the  first  inquiry  is  made  into  the  cir- 
cumstances of  such  as  may  lie  under  the  just  suspi- 
cion of  witchcrafts,  we  could  wish  that  there  may  be 
admitted  as  little  as  possible  of  such  noise,  company, 
and  openness,  as  may  too  hastily  expose  them  that 
are  examined,  and  that  there  may  be  nothing  used  as 
a  test  for  the  trial  of  the  suspected,  the  lawfulness 
whereof  may  be  doubted  by  the  people  of  God  ;  but 
that  the  directions  given  by  such  judicious  writers  as 
•^Perkins  and  Bernard  may  be  observed. 

"6.  Presumptions  whereupon  persons  may  be 
committed,  and,  much  more,  convictions  whereupon 
persons  may  be  condemned,  as  guilty  of  witchcrafts, 
ought  certainly  to  be  more  considerable  than  barely 
the  accused  person's  being  represented  by  a  spectre 
unto  the  afflicted ;  inasmuch  as  it  is  an  undoubted 
and  a  notorious  thing,  that  a  daemon  may,  by  God's 
permission,  appear,  even  to  ill  purposes,  in  the  shape 
of  an  innocent,  yea  and  a  virtuous  man.  Nor  can 
we  esteem  alterations  made  in  the  sufferers,  by  a  look 
or  touch  of  the  accused,  to  be  an  infallible  evidence 
of  guilt,  but  frequently  liable  to  be  abused  by  the 
devil's  legerdemain. 

"1.  We  know  not  whether  some  remarkable  af- 
fronts given  the  devils,  by  our  disbelieving  those  tes- 
timonies whose  whole  force  and  strength  is  from 
them  alone,  may  not  put  a  period  unto  the  progress 
of  the  dreadful  calamity  begun  upon  us,  in  the  accu- 
sation of  so  many  persons,  whereof  some,  we  hope, 
are  yet  clear  from  the  great  transgression  laid  to  their 
charge. 

"  8.  Nevertheless,  we  cannot  but  humbly  recom- 


WITCHCRAFT.  109 

mend,  unto  the  government,  the  speedy  and  vigorous 
prosecutions,  of  such  as  have  rendered  themselves 
obnoxious,  according  to  the  directions  given  in  the 
laws  of  God,  and  the  wholesome  statutes  of  the  Eng- 
lish nation,  for  the  detection  of  witchcrafts." 

More  attention  was  paid  to  the  last  article  of  this  re- 
turn than  to  any  of  the  others.  The  exquisite  caution 
proposed  received  but  little  attention ;  the  prosecu- 
tions were  carried  on  with  all  possible  vigor.  Accord- 
ingly, when  the  court  again  met  on  the  thirtieth  of 
June,  five  women  were  brought  to  trial,  namely,  Sarah 
Good  and  Rebecca  Nurse,  of  Salem  village,  Susannah 
Martin,1  of  Amesbury,  Elizabeth  How,  of  Ipswich,  and 
Sarah  Wildes,  of  Topsfield.  They  were  condemned, 
and  executed  on  the  nineteenth  of  July.  There 
was  no  difficulty  with  any  but  Rebecca  Nurse.  She 
was  a  member  of  the  church,  and  of  a  good  charac- 
ter ;  as  to  her  the  jury  brought  in  a  verdict  of  not 
guilty.  The  accusers  made  a  great  clamor,  and  the 
court  expressed  much  dissatisfaction.  They  said  the 
jury  must  have  disregarded  the  words  the  prisoner 
used,  when  two  female  witnesses,  Mrs.  Hobbs  and 
her  daughter,  appeared  against  her,  which  were; 
"  what !  do  these  persons  give  in  evidence  against 
me  now  ?  they  used  to  come  among  us  ;  "  which,  in 
the  opinion  of  the  court,  referred  to  a  witch  meeting. 

1  Of  Susannah  Martin,  Cotton  Mather  says  :  "  This  woman  was 
one  of  the  most  impudent,  scurrilous,  wicked  creatures  in  the 
world  ;  and  she  did  now,  throughout  her  whole  tryal,  discover  her- 
self to  be  such  an  one.  Yet  when  she  was  asked  what  she  had  to 
say  of  hersolf,  her  chief  plea  was,  that  she  had  led  a  most  vertuous 
and  holy  life."  Wonders  of  the  Invisible  World,  1J6.  Calef,  132, 
1st  edit. 

10 


110  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

The  jury  again  retired,  "  but  could  not  tell  how  to 
take  her  words  against  her,"  (the  foreman  afterwards 
said  this,)  "  till  she  had  a  further  opportunity  to  put 
her  sense  upon  them,  if  she  would  take  it ; "  and 
the  words  were  again  mentioned  in  court,  but  the 
accused  making  no  explanation,  the  jury  no  longer 
hesitated  to  convict.  The  poor  woman,  being  in- 
formed of  the  use  which  had  been  made  of  her 
words,  gave  in  a  declaration  to  the  court,  that  when 
she  said  Hobbs  and  her  daughter  were  of  her  com- 
pany, she  meant  no  more  than  that  they  were  pris- 
oners as  well  as  herself,  and  ought  not  to  be  per- 
mitted to  testify  against  their  fellow  prisoners,  and 
that,  being  hard  of  hearing  and  full  of  grief,  she  did 
not  know  what  the  foreman  of  the  jury  said,  and 
therefore  had  no  opportunity  to  explain  her  meaning. 
The  governor,  it  is  said,  saw  cause  to  grant  a  re- 
prieve, but  it  met  with  violent  opposition,  and  was 
recalled.1  On  the  next  communion  day,  she  was 
taken  in  chains  to  the  meeting  house,  to  be  formally 
excommunicated  by  Mr.  Noyes,  her  minister,  and 
was  hanged  with  the  rest  on  the  nineteenth  of  July. 
"  But  her  life  and  conversation  had  been  such,  that  the 
remembrance  thereof,  in  a  short  time  after,  wiped  off 
all  the  reproach  occasioned  by  the  civil  or  ecclesiasti- 
cal sentence  against  her." 

At  the  trial  of  Sarah  Good,  it  is  said  that  one  of 
the  afflicted  persons  fell  into  a  fit,  and,  after  recovery, 
cried  out  <JEat  the  prisoner  had  stabbed  her  and 

1  There  is  said  to  have  been  an  organized  committee  in  Salem, 
whose  business  it  was  to  carry  on  these  prosecutions,  and  the  re- 
prieve in  Nurse's  case  was  defeated  by  them. 


WITCHCRAFT.  Ill 

broke  her  knife  in  doing  it ; "  and  a  piece  of  the 
knife  was  found  upon  the  afflicted  person  ;  but  a 
young  man  declared,  that,  the  day  before,  he  broke 
that  very  knife  and  threw  away  the  piece,  this  afflict- 
ed person  being  then  present.  The  court  took  so 
much  notice  of  this  as  to  bid  her  tell  no  more  lies,  but 
to  use  her  as  a  witness  against  other  prison-- 
n  Sarah  Good  came  to  be  executed, 
Noyes,  her  minister,  urged  her  to  confess,  and  told 
her  she  was  a  witch,  and  she  knew  she  was  a  witch  ;  to 
which  she  replied  ;^^ypu  are  a  liar — I  am  no  more  a 
witch  than  you  are  a  wizzard,  and  if  you  take  away  my 
life,  God  will  give  you  blood  to  drink."  For  many 
years  afterwards,  the  people  of  Salem  had  a  tradition, 
that  the  curse  of  this  poor  woman  was  verified,  Mr. 
Noyes  having  been  choked  to  death  with  bloodp/' 

At  the  next  adjournment  of  the  court,  on  the  fifth  of 
August,  six  persons  were  brought  to  trial  and  were  con- 
demned to  be  executed  on  the  nineteenth  of  August, 
namely,  John  Proctor,  Elizabeth,  his  wife,  and  John 
Willard,  of  Salem  village,  George  Jacobs,  of  Salem, 
Martha  Carrier,  of  Andover,  and  George  Burroughs, 
of  Wells,  in  the  province  of  Maine. 

A  short  time  before  their  trial,  Proctor  addressed  a 
letter  from  the  prison  in  Salem  to  the  ministers  of 
Boston,  in  which  he  implored  their  intercession  with 
the  governor  in  behalf  of  himself  and  the  others  who 
were  soon  to  be  tried  for  their  lives.  "  The  inno- 
cency  of  our  cause,"  he  said,  "  with  the  enmity  of 


1  Calef.     A  similar  fraud  in  a  trial  before  Sir  Matthew   Hale  is 
referred  to  ante,  page  70. 


112  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

our  accusers,  and  our  judges,  and  jury,  whom  no- 
thing but  our  innocent  blood  will  serve  their  turn, 
having  condemned  us  already  before  our  trials,  being 
so  much  incensed  and  enraged  against  us  by  the 
devil,  makes  us  bold  to  beg  and  implore  your  favora- 
ble assistance  of  this  our  humble  petition  to  his  ex- 
cellency ;  that  if  it  be  possible  our  innocent  blood 
may  be  spared,  which  undoubtedly  otherwise  will  be 
shed,  if  the  Lord  doth  not  mercifully  step  in.  The 
magistrates,  ministers,  juries,  and  all  the  people  in 
general,  being  so  much  enraged  and  incensed  against 
J^  us  by  the  delusion  of  the  devil,  which  we  can  term 
'  no  other,  by  reason  we  know  in  our  own  consciences, 
we  are  all  innocent  persons.  Here  are  five  persons 
who  have  lately  confessed  themselves  to  be  witches, 
and  do  accuse  some  of  us  of  being  along  with  them 
at  a  sacrament,  since  we  were  committed  into  close 
prison,  which  we  know  to  be  lies.  Two  of  the  five 
are  Carrier's  sons ;  young  men  who  would  not  con- 
fess any  thing  till  they  tied  them  neck  and  heels,  till 
the  blood  was  ready  to  come  out  of  their  noses,  and 
it  is  credibly  believed,  and  reported  this  was  the  occa- 
sion of  making  them  confess  that  which  they  never  did, 
by  reason  they  said  one  had  been  a  witch  a  month, 
and  another  five  weeks,  and  that  their  mother  had 
made  them  so,  who  has  been  confined  here  this  nine 
weeks.  My  son,  William  Proctor,  when  he  was  ex- 
amined, because  he  would  not  confess  that  he  was 
guilty,  when  he  was  innocent,  they  tied  him  neck 
and  heels  till  the  blood  gushed  out  at  his  nose,  and 
would  have  kept  him  so  twenty-four  hours,  if  one 
more  merciful  than  the  rest  had  not  taken  pity  on 


WITCHCRAFT.  113 

him,  and  caused  him  to  be  unbound.  These  actions 
are  very  like  the  popish  cruelties.  They  have  al- 
ready undone  us  in  our  estates,1  and  that  will  not 
serve  their  turns,  without  our  innocent  blood.  If  it 
cannot  be  granted  that  we  can  have  our  trials  at 
Boston,  we  humbly  beg  that  you  would  endeavor  to 
have  these  magistrates  changed,  and  others  in  their 
rooms ;  begging  also  and  beseeching  you  would  be 
pleased  to  be  here,  if  not  all,  some  of  you  at  our 
trials,  hoping  thereby  you  may  be  the  means  of 
saving  the  shedding  our  innocent  blood,  desiring 
your  prayers  to  the  Lord  in  our  behalf,  we  rest  your 
poor  afflicted  servants." 

When  Proctor  came  to  die,  he  pleaded  hard  for  a 
little  respite  of  time,  saying  that  he  was  not  fit  to 
die  ;  but  it  was  refused.  He  had  requested  Noyes 
to  pray  with  and  for  him,  but  that  was  refused  be- 
cause he  would  not  confess  himself  a  witch.  His 
wife  being  pregnant  was  reprieved. 

John  Willard,  who  was  executed  with  the  rest,  at 
this  time,  was  formerly  employed  as  an  officer  in  ar- 
resting those  accused  of  witchcraft ;  but  becoming 

1  While  Proctor  and  his  wife  were  in  prison,  the  sheriff  came  to 
his  house  and  seized  all  the  goods,  provisions  and  cattle  that  he 
could  come  at ;  sold  some  of  the  cattle  at  half  price  ;  killed 
others,  and  put  them  up  for  the  West  Indies ;  threw  out  the  beer 
out  of  a  barrel,  and  carried  away  the  barrel  ;  emptied  a  pot  of  broth, 
and  took  away  the  pot,  and  left  nothing  in  the  house  for  the  sup- 
port of  the  children.  When  Jacobs  was  condemned,  the  officers 
seized  all  he  had, and  his  wife  had  her  wedding  ring  taken  from  her, 
but  with  great  difficulty  obtained  it  again.  She  was  forced  to  buy 
provisions  of  the  sheriff,  such  as  he  had  taken,  towards  her  own 
support,  which  not  being  sufficient,  the  neighbors,  of  charity,  re- 
lieved her.  Calef,  104,  105. 


114  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

dissatisfied,  he  declined  the  service,  and  was  himself 
immediately  after  accused  of  being  a  witch.  He 
escaped  as  far  as  Nashua,  about  forty  miles  from 
Salem,  but  was  taken  and  paid  the  forfeit  of  his  dis- 
obedience and  want  of  faith  with  his  life. 

At  the  original  examination  of  Martha  Carrier, 
two  of  her  children  had  been  tortured  into  a  confes- 
sion against  her  ;  but  Cotton  Mather  says  this  evi- 
dence was  not  produced  against  the  prisoner,  at  the 
trial,  inasmuch  as  there  was  other  evidence  enough 
to  proceed  upon.  At  the  end  of  his  report  of  her 
trial,  this  unhappy  man  makes  the  following  "  memo- 
randum. This  rampant  hag,  Martha  Carryer,  was 
the  person,  of  whom  the  confessions  of  the  witches 
and  of  her  own  children,  among  the  rest,  agreed 
that  the  devil  had  promised  her,  she  should  be  queen 
of  hell."  J  The  confession  of  her  daughter,  a  child 
of  seven  years  old,  is  still  preserved. 

TRIAL  OF  GEORGE  BURROUGHS. 

George  Burroughs  was  a  man  of  ability  and  edu- 
cation, who  was  graduated  at  Cambridge,  in  1670, 
and  had  formerly  been  a  minister  in  Salem  village. 
His  trial  and  condemnation  is  one  of  the  darkest 
transactions,  which  the  annals  of  crime  in  this  coun- 
try present.  There  were  at  the  time  vague  hints, 
which  became  at  length  positive  assertions,  of  diffi- 
culties between  him  and  Parris,  which  render  his 
fate  a  terrible  commentary  on  the  power  thrown  into 
the  hands  of  a  few  designing  men  by  the  excited  state 

'  Wonders  of  the  Invisible  World,  138;  Calef,  139,  1st  edit. 


WITCHCRAFT.  115 

of  public  feeling.  Moreover,  he  boldly  denied  that 
there  was  or  could  be  such  a  thing  as  witchcraft  in  the 
current  sense  of  the  term.  He  was  among  the  first 
who  were  accused,  and,  after  lying  in  jail  several 
months,  he  was  brought  to  trial,  as  before  stated,  on 
the  fifth  of  August.  The  indictment  set  forth,  that 
the  prisoner  on  the  ninth  day  of  May  and  divers  other 
days,  as  well  before  as  after,  "  certain  detestable 
arts,  called  witchcraft  and  sorceries,  wickedly  and 
feloniously  hath  used,  practised,  and  exercised,  at 
and  within  the  township  of  Salem,  in  the  county  of 
Essex  aforesaid,  in,  upon,  and  against  one  Anne  Put- 
nam, singlewoman,  by  which  said  wicked  arts,  the  said 
Anne  Putnam,  the  ninth  day  of  May,  and  divers 
other  days  and  times,  as  well  before  as  after,  was  and 
is  tortured,  afflicted,  pined,  consumed,  wasted  and  tor- 
mented, against  the  peace  of  our  sovereign  lord  and 
lady,  the  king  and  queen,  and  against  the  form  of 
the  statute  in  that  case  made  and  provided." 

There  were  three  other  indictments  against  the 
prisoner,  to  all  of  which,  on  his  arraignment,  he 
pleaded  not  guilty.  The  evidence  against  him  was 
of  a  very  loose  and  general  nature,  consisting  in  a 
great  measure  of  things  said  and  done  by  his  shape 
or  apparition,  when  he  was  not  present  as  to  the 
body.  Attempts  were  made  in  this  way  to  prove 
that  the  prisoner  had  murdered  two  wives  and  other 
persons.  Testimony  was  also  received  respecting 
great  feats  of  strength  performed  by  the  prisoner. 
But  what  made  against  him  very  much  was  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  witnesses,  when  they  gave  in  their 
testimony.  They  fell  into  terrible  fits,  and  were 


116  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

struck  dumb.  "  Who  hinders  these  witnesses,"  said 
the  chief  justice,  "  from  giving  their  testimony  ?  " 
"  I  suppose  the  devil,"  answered  Burroughs.  "  How 
comes  the  devil,"  retorted  Stoughton,  "  so  loath  to 
have  any  testimony  borne  against  you  ?  "  and  the 
question  was  decisive  against  him.  The  following  is 
the  testimony  of  most  of  the  witnesses  at  this  trial, 
condensed  from  original  documents. 

Anne  Putnam.  On  the  ninth  of  May,  1692,  in  the 
evening,  I  saw  the  apparition  of  George  Burroughs, 
who  grievously  tortured  me,  and  urged  me  to  write 
in  his  book,  which  I  refused.  He  then  told  me  that 
his  two  first  wives  would  appear  to  me  presently  and 
tell  me  a  great  many  lies,  but  I  should  not  believe 
them.  Immediately  there  appeared  to  me  the  forms 
of  two  women  in  winding  sheets  and  napkins  about 
their  heads,  at  which  I  was  greatly  affrighted.  They 
turned  their  faces  towards  Mr.  Burroughs  and  looked 
very  red  and  angry  at  him,  telling  him  that  he  had 
been  a  cruel  man  to  them,  and  that  their  blood  cried 
for  vengeance  against  him.  They  also  told  him  they 
should  be  clothed  with  white  robes  in  heaven  when 
he  should  be  cast  into  hell.  Immediately  he  van- 
ished away,  and,  as  soon  as  he  was  gone,  the  two 
women  turned  their  faces  towards  me,  looking  as 
pale  as  a  white  wall.  They  said  they  were  Mr. 
Burroughs's  first  wives,  and  that  he  had  murdered 
them.  One  of  them  said  she  was  his  first  wife,  and 
he  stabbed  her  under  the  left  arm  and  put  a  piece  of 
sealing  wax  on  the  wound  ;  and  she  pulled  aside  the 
winding  sheet  and  showed  me  the  place,  and  also 
told  me  that  she  was  in  the  house  where  Mr.  Parris 


WITCHCRAFT.  117 

now  lives  when  it  was  done.  The  other  told  me, 
that  Mr.  Burroughs  and  his  present  wife  killed 
her  in  the  vessel  as  she  was  coming  to  see  her 
friends,  because  they  would  have  one  another ;  and 
they  both  charged  me  that  I  should  tell  these  things 
to  the  magistrates  before  Mr.  Burroughs's  face,  and 
if  he  did  not  own  them,  they  did  not  know  but  they 
should  appear  there  this  morning.  Mrs.  Lawson  and 
her  daughter  also  appeared  to  me  and  told  me,  that 
Mr.  Burroughs  murdered  them.  This  morning  there 
also  appeared  to  me  another  woman  in  a  winding 
sheet,  and  told  me,  that  she  was  goodman  Fuller's 
first  wife,  and  that  Mr.  Burroughs  killed  her  because  of 
some  difference  between  her  husband  and  himself. 
The  prisoner,  on  the  ninth  of  May,  also,  at  his  first 
examination,  most  grievously  tormented  and  afflicted 
Mary  Walcott,  Mercy  Lewis,  Elizabeth  Hubbard, 
and  Abigail  Williams,  by  pinching,  pricking,  and 
choking  them. 

Elizabeth  Hubbard.  One  night  there  appeared  to 
me  a  little  black-bearded  man  in  dark  apparel,  who  told 
me  his  name  was  Burroughs.  He  took  a  book  out  of 
his  pocket,  and  bade  me  set  my  hand  to  it.  I  refused. 
The  lines  in  the  book  were  as  red  as  blood.  He  then 
pinched  me  and  went  away.  He  has  often  appeared 
to  me  since  and  threatened  to  kill  me  if  I  would  not 
sign  the  book.  He  tortured  me  very  much  by  biting, 
pinching,  and  squeezing  my  body,  and  running  pins 
into  me.  At  his  first  examination  on  May  ninth,  he 
did  most  grievously  afflict  and  torment  the  bodies  of 
Mary  Walcott,  Mercy  Lewis,  Anne  Putnam,  and 
Abigail  Williams.  If  he  did  but  look  upon  them,  he 


118  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

would  strike  them  down  or  almost  choke  them  to 
death.  I  believe  in  my  heart,  that  Mr.  George  Bur- 
roughs is  a  dreadful  wizzard. 

Sarah  Viber.  On  the  ninth  of  May  last,  as  I  was 
going  to  Salem  village,  I  saw  the  apparition  of  a  little 
man,  like  a  minister,  with  a  black  coat  on,  and  he 
pinched  me  by  the  arm  and  bade  me  go  with  him, 
but  I  would  not,  and  when  I  came  to  the  village,  I 
saw  Mr.  George  Burroughs,  whom  I  never  saw  be- 
fore. Then  I  knew,  that  it  was  his  apparition  which 
I  had  seen  in  the  morning.  He  tortured  me  several 
times  during  the  time  of  his  examination.  I  also 
saw  him  or  his  appearance  torment  and  afflict  Mary 
Walcott,  Mercy  Lewis,  Elizabeth  Hubbard,  Anne 
Putnam  and  Abigail  Williams,  by  pinching,  twisting, 
and  almost  choking  them  to  death.  I  believe  in  my 
heart,  that  he  is  a  dreadful  wizzard. 

Mercy  Lewis.  On  the  seventh  of  May  last,  in  the 
evening,  I  saw  Mr.  George  Burroughs,  who  urged  me 
to  write  in  his  book.  He  told  me,  that  the  devil  was 
his  servant,  and  mentioned  several  whom  he  had  be- 
witched. He  tortured  me  dreadfully  and  threatened 
to  kill  me,  for  he  said  I  should  not  witness  against 
him.  He  also  told  me  I  should  not  see  his  two  wives 
if  he  could  help  it,  because  I  should  not  witness 
against  him.  On  the  ninth  of  May,  Mr.  Burroughs 
carried  me  up  into  an  exceeding  high  mountain  and 
showed  me  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  earth,  and  told 
me  that  he  would  give  them  all  to  me,  if  I  would 
write  in  his  book,  and  if  I  would  not,  he  would 
throw  me  down  and  break  my  neck  ;  but  I  told  him 
they  were  not  his  to  give,  and  I  would  not  write  if 
he  threw  me  down  on  a  hundred  pitchforks. 


WITCHCRAFT.  119 

Benjamin  Hutchinson.  On  the  twenty-first  of 
April,  Abigail  Williams  told  me  there  was  a  little  black 
minister  who  lived  at  Casco  Bay,  who  told  her  he  had 
killed  two  wives  for  himself,  and  one  for  Mr.  Lawson, 
and  that  he  could  hold  out  the  heaviest  gun  in  Casco 
Bay  in  one  hand,  although  any  other  man  can  scarcely 
hold  one  out  in  both  hands.  I  asked  her  where  this 
little  man  stood.  She  said  just  where  the  cart  wheel 
went  along.  I  had  a  three  grained  iron  fork  in  my 
hand  and  I  threw  it  where  she  said  he  stood,  and  she 
presently  fell  into  a  fit,  and  when  it  was  over,  said, 
"  you  have  torn  his  coat,  for  I  heard  it  tare." 
"  Whereabouts  ?  "  said  I.  "  On  one  side  "  said  she. 
Then  we  came  to  the  house  of  lieutenant  Ingersol, 
and  I  went  into  the  great  room.  Abigail  came  in 
and  said,  "  there  he  stands."  I  said  "  where,  where  ? " 
and  presently  drew  my  rapier,  but  he  was  immedi- 
ately gone,  as  she  said.  Then  she  said,  "  there  is  a 
gray  cat."  I  struck  with  my  rapier  and  she  fell  into 
a  fit.  When  it  was  over,  she  said,  "  you  have  killed 
her." 

Simon  Willard.  Being  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Law- 
rence, at  Falmouth,  in  Casco  Bay,  in  September, 
1689,  he  was  commending  the  strength  of  Mr. 
George  Burroughs,  saying  that  none  of  us  could  do 
what  he  could ;  "  for,"  said  he,  "  Mr.  Burroughs  can 
hold  out  this  gun  with  one  hand."  Mr.  Burroughs 
being  present,  explained  where  he  took  hold  of  the 
gun  to  hold  it  out,  but  he  did  not  hold  it  out  then. 
The  gun  was  near  a  seven  feet  barrel  and  very  heavy. 
I  could  not  hold  it  out  with  both  hands  long  enough 
to  take  sight.  In  1689,  being  in  captain  Sargeant's 


120  AMERICAN   TRIALS. 

garrison,  Mr.  Burroughs  said  he  had  carried  a  barrel 
of  molasses  or  cider  from  a  boat  to  the  shore. 

Samuel  Webber.  About  eight  years  ago  I  lived  at 
Casco  Bay,  and  George  Burroughs  was  then  minister 
there.  Having  heard  much  of  his  great  strength,  I 
conversed  with  him  about  it,  and  he  then  told  me, 
that  he  had  put  his  fingers  into  the  bung  of  a  barrel 
of  molasses,  lifted  it  up,  and  carried  it  round  him, 
and  set  it  down  again. 

Susannah  Harris  testified,  that  she  formerly  lived 
at  the  house  of  Burroughs  in  Falmouth,  and  often 
when  he  was  absent  and  she  had  conversed  with  his 
wife,  he  knew  what  was  said  and  told  her  on  his 
return. 

There  appears  to  have  been  some  further  testimony 
of  which  there  is  no  record.  The  prisoner  said  but 
little  at  his  trial.  He  made  some  attempt  to  explain 
away  the  testimony  against  him,  but  became  con- 
fused, and  made  contradictory  statements.  He  also 
handed  in  a  paper  to  the  jury,  in  which  he  utterly 
denied  that  there  was  any  truth  in  the  received  no- 
tions of  witchcraft.  The  jury  returned  a  verdict  of 
guilty,  and  he  was  sentenced  to  die. 

On  the  nineteenth  of  August,  he  was  carried  in  a 
cart  through  the  streets  of  Salem  with  the  others, 
who  were  to  die.  Upon  the  ladder  he  made  a  calm 
and  powerful  address  to  the  multitude,  in  which  he 
asserted  his  innocence  "  with  such  solemn  and  seri- 
ous expressions  as  were  to  the  admiration  of  all 
present."  He  then  made  a  prayer,  concluding  with 
the  Lord's  prayer,  which  he  repeated  in  a  clear,  son- 
orous tone,  with  entire  exactness,  and  with  a  fervency 


,;,,-i/i'  /llir- 

trial, 


jcvm       772  crr 


2  crroa/n  /^  cr 
i_     J^  cvr^  yts«~ci£ 


WITCHCRAFT.  121 

that  astonished.  Many  were  affected  to  tears,  and 
it  seemed  as  if  the  spectators  would  hinder  the  exe- 
cution. But  the  accusers  cried,  that  the  devil  assist- 
ed him ;  the  execution  proceeded,  and  the  husband, 
the  father,  and  the  minister  of  God,  was  violently 
sent  to  his  long  home.  Cotton  Mather,  on  horse- 
back in  the  crowd,  addressed  the  people,  declaring 
that  Burroughs  was  no  ordained  minister,  insisted  on 
his  guilt,  and  asserted  that  the  devil  had  often  been 
transformed  into  an  angel  of  light.  When  the  body 
was  cut  down,  it  was  dragged  by  the  halter  to  a 
hole  about  a  foot  deep.  It  was  stripped  of  its  gar- 
ments, and  some  old  clothing  of  one  executed  being 
put  upon  the  body,  it  was  thrown  in  with  two  others, 
a  part  of  it  being  left  uncovered.1 

After  the  death  of  Burroughs,  it  was  related,  that 
the  night  before  his  execution  there  was  a  great 
witch  meeting,  at  which  the  sacrament  was  adminis- 
tered ;  that  Burroughs  was  present  and  took  leave  of 
his  companions,  bidding  them  hold  fast  to  the  faith 
and  make  no  confessions. 

On  the  ninth  of  September,  Martha  Cory,  of  Sa- 
lem village,  Mary  Easty  of  Topsfield,  Alice  Parker 
and  Ann  Pudeater,  of  Salem,  Dorcas  Hoar,  of  Bev- 
erly, and  Mary  Bradbury,  of  Salisbury,  were  tried, 
and  received  sentence  of  death  ;  and,  on  the  seven- 
teenth of  the  same  month,  Margaret  Scott,  of  Row- 
ley, Willmet  Redd,  of  Marblehead,  Samuel  Ward- 
well,  Mary  Parker,  Mary  Lacy,  and  Ann  Foster,  of 
Andover,  Abigail  Falkner,  of  Andover,  who  pleaded 
pregnancy,  Rebecca  Eames,  of  Boxford,  and  Abigail 

1  Calef.  104. 1st  edit. 
11 


122  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

Hobbs,  of  Topsfield,  received  the  same  sentence. 
Of  the  above,  eight  were  executed  on  the  twenty- 
second  of  September,  namely,  Samuel  Wardwell, 
Martha  Cory,  Mary  Easty,  Alice  Parker,  Ann  Pu- 
deater,  Margaret  Scott,  and  Willmet  Redd. 

Wardwell  had  confessed  and  was  safe  ;  but  he  re- 
tracted his  confession,  and  was  condemned,  not  for 
witchcraft,  but  for  denying  witchcraft.1  At  his  exe- 
cution, while  addressing  the  people,  protesting  his 
innocence,  the  executioner  was  smoking  tobacco,  and 
the  smoke  coming  into  his  face  interrupted  his  dis- 
course :  "  see  how  the  devil  wraps  him  in  smoke," 
was  the  shout  of  the  accusing  witnesses. 

Martha  Cory,  an  ancient  and  venerable  woman, 
protesting  her  innocence  to  the  last,  "concluded 
her  life  with  an  eminent  prayer  on  the  ladder."  Her 
husband,  Giles  Cory,  an  octogenarian,  seeing  that 
no  one  escaped,  knowing  that  a  trial  was  but  the 
form  of  convicting  him  of  a  felony,  by  which  his 
estate  would  be  forfeited,  refused  to  plead,  and  was 
condemned  to  be  pressed  to  death  ;  the  only  instance 
in  which  the  horrible  death  by  the  common  law  judg- 
ment, for  standing  mute  on  arraignment,  has  been 
inflicted  in  America.4  As  the  aged  frame  of  the  dy- 
ing man  yielded  to  the  dreadful  pressure,  his  tongue 

1  The  original  record  of  his  confession,  as  taken  September  1, 
]6r2,  before  John  Higginson,  is  still  preserved.  Under  it,  in  a  dif- 
ferent hand,  is  written  :  "Samuel  Wardwell  owned  to  the  grand 
inquest  thit  the  above  written  confession  was  taken  from  his 
mouth  ;  that  he  had  said  it.  But  he  said  he  belied  himself.  He 
also  said  it  was  all  one  ;  he  knew  he  should  die  for  it,  whether  he 
owned  it  or  not.  Sept.  13,  lf>[>2." 

8  Washburn's  Judicial  History  of  Massachusetts,  142. 


WITCHCRAFT.  123 

protruded  from  his  mouth,  and  the  sheriff  thrust  it 
back  again  with  the  point  of  his  cane.1 

Mary  Easty,  who  was  hanged  with  the  others  on 
the  twenty-second  of  September,  was  a  woman  of 
great  strength  of  mind  and  sweetness  of  disposition. 
Before  her  trial  she  united  with  her  sister,  Sarah 
Cloyse,  in  a  petition  to  the  court,  in  which  they  say : 
"  whereas  we  two  sisters  stand  now  before  the  hon- 
ored court,  charged  with  the  suspicion  of  witchcraft, 
our  humble  request  is,  first;  that  seeing  we  are 
neither  able  to  plead  our  own  cause,  nor  is  counsel 
allowed  to  those  in  our  condition,  that  you,  who  are 
our  judges,  would  please  to  be  of  counsel  to  us,  to 
direct  us  wherein  we  may  stand  in  need.  Secondly  ; 
that  whereas  we  are  not  conscious  to  ourselves  of 
any  guilt  in  the  least  degree  of  that  crime  whereof 
we  are  now  accused  (in  the  presence  of  the  living 
God  we  speak  it,  before  whose  awful  tribunal  we  know 
we  must  ere  long  appear)  nor  of  any  other  scanda- 
lous evil  or  miscarriage  inconsistent  with  Christianity, 
those  who  have  had  the  longest  and  best  knowledge 
of  us,  being  persons  of  good  report,  may  be  suffered 
to  testify  upon  oath  what  they  know  concerning  each 
of  us,  namely,  Mr.  Capen,  the  pastor,  and  those  of  the 
town  and  church  of  Topsfield,  who  are  ready  to  say 

1  Calef,  106.  Sewall,  one  of  the  judges,  in  his  private  journal, 
under  the  date  of  September  19,  1692,  narrates  the  fact,  that  about 
noon,  Giles  Cory  was  pressed  to  death  for  standing  mute,  and  on 
the  following  day  is  this  entry  :  "  Now  1  hear  from  Salem,  that 
about  eighteen  years  ago,  he  (Cory)  was  suspected  to  have  stamped 
and  pressed  a  man  to  death,  but  was  cleared.  It  was  not  remem- 
bered, until  Anne  Putnam  was  told  of  it  by  said  Cory's  spectre,  the 
Sabbath  day  night  before  the  execution."  Washburn,  14b. 


124  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

something  which  we  hope  may  be  looked  upon  as  very 
considerable  in  this  matter ;  with  the  seven  children 
of  one  of  us,  namely,  Mary  Easty,  and  that  it  may 
be  produced  of  like  nature  in  reference  to  the  wife 
of  Peter  Cloyse,  her  sister.  Thirdly  ;  that  the  testi- 
mony of  witches,  or  such  as  are  afflicted,  as  is  sup- 
posed, by  witches,  may  not  be  improved  to  condemn 
us,  without  other  legal  evidence  concurring.  We 
hope  the  honored  court  and  jury  will  be  so  tender 
of  the  lives  of  such  as  we  are,  who  have  for  many 
years  lived  under  the  unblemished  reputation  of 
Christianity,  as  not  to  condemn  them  without  a  fair 
and  equal  hearing,  of  what  may  be  said  for  us  as  well 
as  against  us.  And  your  poor  supplicants  shall  be 
bound  always  to  pray." 

After  the  condemnation  of  Mary  Easty,  she  sent 
another  petition  to  the  court,  which,  as  an  exhibition 
of  the  noblest  fortitude,  united  with  sweetness  of 
temper,  dignity,  and  resignation,  as  well  as  of  calm- 
ness towards  those  who  had  selected  so  many  vic- 
tims from  her  family,  will  be  read  with  unqualified 
admiration  by  the  modern  reader.  When  it  is  recol- 
lected, that  confession  was  the  sure  if  not  the  only 
means  of  obtaining  the  favor  of  the  court,  this  peti- 
tion must  be  regarded  as  a  most  affecting  appeal  by 
an  humble  and  feeble  woman,  about  to  lay  down 
her  life  in  the  cause  of  truth  ;  and  who,  a  wife  and  a 
mother,  in  circumstances  of  terrible  trial,  uttered  no 
word  of  complaint,  but  met  her  fate  with  a  calmness 
and  resignation,  which  excites  the  wonder  of  all  who 
read  her  story. 

"The  humble  petition  of  Mary  Easty  unto  his  ex- 


WITCHCRAFT.  125 

cellency  Sir  William  Phipps,  and  to  the  honorable 
judge  and  bench  now  sitting  in  judicature  in  Salem, 
and  the  reverend  ministers,  humbly  sheweth :  That 
whereas  your  poor  and  humble  petitioner,  being  con- 
demned to  die,  doth  humbly  beg  of  you  to  take  it 
into  your  judicious  and  pious  consideration,  that  your 
poor  and  humble  petitioner,  knowing  my  own  inno- 
cency  (blessed  be  the  Lord  for  it)  and  seeing  plainly 
the  wiles  and  subtilty  of  my  accusers,  by  myself,  can- 
not but  judge  charitably  of  others,  that  are  going  the 
same  way  with  myself,  if  the  Lord  step  not  mightily  in. 
I  was  confined  a  whole  month  on  the  same  account 
that  I  am  now  condemned  for,  and  then  cleared  by 
the  afflicted  persons,  as  some  of  your  honors  know; 
and  in  two  day's  time  I  was  cried  out  upon  by  them, 
and  have  been  confined,  and  now  am  condemned  to 
die.  The  Lord  above  knows  my  innocency  then, 
and  likewise  doth  now,  as  at  the  great  day  will  be 
known  to  men  and  angels.  I  petition  to  your  hon- 
ors not  for  my  own  life,  for  I  know  I  must  die,  and 
my  appointed  time  is  set ;  but  the  Lord  he  knows  it 
is,  if  it  be  possible,  that  no  more  innocent  blood  may  ' 
be  shed,  which  undoubtedly  cannot  be  avoided  in  the 
way  and  course  you  go  on.  I  question  not  but  your 
honors  do  to  the  utmost  of  your  powers,  in  the  dis- 
covery and  detecting  of  witchcraft  and  witches,  and 
would  not  be  guilty  of  innocent  blood  for  the  world ; 
but,  by  my  own  innocency,  I  know,  you  are  in  the 
wrong  way.  The  Lord  in  his  infinite  mercy  direct 
you  in  this  great  work,  if  it  be  his  blessed  will,  that 
no  more  innocent  blood  be  shed.  I  would  humbly 
beg  of  you,  that  your  honors  would  be  pleased  to 
11* 


126  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

examine  these  afflicted  persons  strictly,  and  keep 
them  apart  some  time,  and  likewise  to  try  some  of 
these  confessing  witches  ;  I  being  confident  there  are 
several  of  them  have  belied  themselves  and  others, 
as  will  appear,  if  not  in  this  world,  I  am  sure  in  the 
world  to  come,  whither  I  am  going ;  and  I  question 
not,  but  yourselves  will  see  an  alteration  in  these 
things.  They  say  myself  and  others  have  made  a 
league  with  the  devil ;  we  cannot  confess.  I  know  and 
the  Lord  he  knows,  as  will  shortly  appear,  they  be- 
lie me,  and  so  I  question  not  but  they  do  others ;  the 
Lord  alone,  who  is  the  searcher  of  all  hearts,  knows, 
as  I  shall  answer  it  at  the  tribunal  seat,  that  I  know 
not  the  least  thing  of  witchcraft,  therefore  I  cannot, 
I  durst  not  belie  my  own  soul.  I  beg  your  honors 
not  to  deny  this  my  humble  petition,  from  a  poor, 
innocent  person,  and  I  question  not  but  the  Lord  will 
give  a  blessing  to  your  endeavors."  ' 

The  parting  scene  between  this  excellent  woman 
and  her  husband,  children,  and  friends,  was  "as  seri- 
ous, religious,  distinct  and  affectionate  as  could  well 


1  With  the  exception  of  a  few  slight  verbal  corrections,  this  peti- 
tion is  an  exact  copy  from  the  original,  which  is  still  preserved. 
There  is  every  reason  to  believe  from  the  appearance  of  the  hand- 
writing, the  paper,  arid  the  corrections,  that  it  was  drawn  up  by 
the  petitioner  herself.  She  was  about  sixty  years  old,  and  the 
mother  of  seven  children.  There  is  a  petition  in  the  state  archives, 
dated  September  8,  1719,  from  her  husband  to  a  committee  of  the 
general  court,  in  which  he  states  that  he  is  eighty-two  years  old  ; 
that  he  believed  his  wife  was  entirely  innocent  of  the  ofTence  for 
which  she  suffered  ;  and  that  she  was  five  months  in  prison,  during 
which  time  he  maintained  her  and  visited  her  constantly  twice  a 
week  to  provide  for  her  necessities;  for  all  which  he  claims  twenty 
pounds  as  compensation. 


WITCHCRAFT.  127 

be  expressed,  drawing  tears  from  the  eyes  of  almost 
all  present."  She  was  hanged  with  the  others. 
"  There  hang  eight  fire  brands  of  hell,"  said  Noyes, 
the  minister  of  Salem,  pointing  to  the  bodies  hanging 
on  the  gallows. 

The  court  of  oyer  and  terminer  never  sat  again.  It 
was  impossible  for  these  atrocities  to  be  longer  endured.' 
The  common  mind  of  Massachusetts,  more  wise  than 
those  in  authority  and  influence,  became  concentrated 
against  such  monstrous  proceedings,  and  jurors  refused 
to  convict  while  the  judicial  power  was  yet  unsatisfied 
with  victims.  Already  twenty  persons  had  suffered 
death  ;  more  than  fifty  had  been  tortured  or  terrified 
into  confession  ;  the  jails  were  full,  and  hundreds  were 
under  suspicion.  Where  was  this  to  end  ?  (  More- 
over, the  frauds  and  imposture  attending  these, scenes 
began  to  be  apparent.  )  It  was  observed,  that  no  one 
of  the  condemned,  confessing  witchcraft,  had  been 
hanged ;  no  one  who  confessed  and  retracted  a  con- 
fession escaped  either  hanging,  or  imprisonment  for 
trial.  Favoritism  had  been  shown  in  refusing  to  listen 
to  accusations,  which  were  directed  against  friends  or 
partisans.  Corrupt  means  had  been  used  to  tempt 
people  to  become  accusers,  and  accusations  began 
to  be  made  against  the  most  respectable  inhabit- 
ants of  the  province  and  some  ministers.1  It  was  also 

1  John  Bradstreet  was  accused  of  bewitching  a  dog,  but  made 
his  escape  out  of  the  province.  The  dog  was  put  to  death  as  a  < 
witch.  Calef,  109.  Even  the  wife  of  governor  Phipps  came  under 
suspicion,  probably  from  the  circumstance  that  when  a  certain 
young  woman  was  committed  to  prison  in  Boston  on  suspicion  of 
the  offence,  the  wife  of  the  governor  drew  up  an  order  for  her  re- 
lease, and  signed  her  husband's  name  to  it  without  his  knowledge. 


128  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

*•** 

jpbserved,  that  the  trials  were  not  fairly  conducted. 
They  were  but  a  form  to  condemn  the  accused. /(jNIo 
one  brought  to  the  bar  escaped,  and  all  who  were 
cried  out  upon  expected  death^x'The  wife  of  the 
wealthiest  person  in  Salem,  a  merchant,  and  a  man 
of  the  highest  respectability,  being  accused,  the  war- 
rant was  read  to  her  in  the  evening  in  her  bed  cham- 
ber, and  guards  were  placed  round  the  house.  In 
the  morning,  she  attended  the  devotions  of  her  family, 
gave  instructions  for  the  education  of  her  children, 
kissed  them,  commended  them  to  God,  bade  them 
farewell,  and  committed  herself  to  the  sheriff,  de- 
claring her  readiness  to  die.1  Such  a  state  of  things 
could  not  continue  long,  in  any  age,  whilst  the  essen- 
tial elements  of  human  nature  remain  the  same. 
No  wonder  the  miserable  creatures  who  endured 
these  sufferings  felt  that  New  England  was  indeed 
deserted  by  God. 

Meanwhile,  the  court  had  adjourned  to  the  first 
Tuesday  of  November.  "  Between  this  and  then," 
wrote  Brattle,  "  will  be  the  great  assembly,  and  this 
matter  will  be  a  peculiar  subject  of  agitation."  "  Our 
hopes,"  he  adds,  "  are  here."  The  representatives 
of  the  people  must  stay  the  evil  or  "  New  England 
is  undone  and  undone."  Nor  were  these  hopes 
disappointed.  The  general  court  assembled  about 
a  fortnight  after  the  last  hanging  of  eight  at  Salem. 


The  jailer,  suspecting  nothing  wrong, released  the  prisoner;  but  he 
lost  his  place  for  his  mistake. 

1  Her  husband,  Philip  English,  at  first  concealed  himself,  but 
surrendered  himself  up ;  and  subsequently  they  both  escaped  to 
New  York.  Upham's  Lectures,  28. 


WITCHCRAFT.  129 

Its  measures  were  not  in  direct  opposition  to  the  cur- 
rent of  popular  delusion  ;  but  were  calculated  to  give 
time  for  reflection,  and  to  afford  opportunity  for  the 
change  which  was  evidently  taking  place  in  public 
opinion.  The  statute  of  James  I.  against  witchcraft, 
was  adopted  as  the  law  of  the  province  ; '  the  special 
court  of  oyer  and  terminer,  which  had  just  adjourned 
for  a  short  respite  from  its  labors,  was  abrogated  ; 
and,  in  its  stead,  a  new  tribunal,  which  was  not  to 
assemble  until  the  next  January,  was  established  by 
public  law. 

When  the  court  assembled,  the  grand  jury  dis- 
missed more  than  half  of  the  presentments  made  to 
them,  but  found  bills  against  twenty-six.  Of  these, 
three  only  were  found  guilty,  although  the  evidence 
was  equally  strong  as  in  the  previous  cases.  One  of 
them  was  the  wife  of  Wardwell,  who  had  been  pre- 
viously convicted  and  executed  on  her  testimony  ;  her 
confession  was  now  used  against  herself.  They  were 
all  reprieved.  The  court  next  sat  at  Charlestown,  in 
the  same  month,  where  several  indictments  were 
found,  and  the  trial  of  Sarah  Daston,  a  woman  of 
eighty  years  old,  took  place.  "  If  ever  there  were  a 
witch  in  the  world,"  it  was  said,  "she  was  one," 
having  been  so  accounted  for  thirty  years ;  and  an 
immense  concourse  of  people  assembled  to  witness 
the  proceedings.  But  she  was  acquitted.  While  the 
court  was  sitting,  word  was  brought,  that  a  reprieve 
had  been  sent  to  Salem  for  seven  of  the  condemned ; 
upon  which  Stoughton,  the  chief  justice,  exclaimed, 

1  Rejected  by  the  king,  William  III.,  when  laid  before  him  for 
his  approbation. 


130  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

"  we  were  in  a  way  to  have  cleared  the  land  of  these  ; 
who  it  is  obstructs  the  course  of  justice,  I  know  not ; 
the  Lord  be  merciful  to  the  country ; "  and  thereupon 
he  retired  from  the  bench,  and  came  no  more  to  the 
court. 

The  causes  of  this  change  in  public  opinion  are 
variously  stated.  Some  attribute  it  to  the  fact,  that 
the  wife  of  the  minister  of  Beverly  being  accused,  he 
immediately  changed  his  mind  in  regard  to  the  pro- 
priety of  the  prosecutions,  and  thenceforward  opposed 
as  zealously  as  he  had  previously  encouraged  them. 
Others  relate  that  the  wife  of  a  gentleman  in  Boston 
being  accused,  he  brought  an  action  for  slander, 
claiming  a  thousand  pounds  damages  ; l  and  that  this 
turned  back  the  current  of  accusations.  But  such 
causes  were  inadequate  to  the  effect.  These  inci- 
dental facts  were  rather  the  result  of  the  change  that 
was  taking  place,  than  the  cause  of  it.  The  force  of 
public  sentiment,  which  had  hanged  one  minister, 
could  scarcely  have  been  resisted  by  the  efforts  of 
another.  An  action  at  law,  sounding  in  damages, 
would  hardly  stop  the  mouths  of  accusing  witnesses, 
who  professed  to  have  given  themselves  to  the  pow- 

1  A  similar  action  was  brought  in  the  time  of  lord  Hobart  (164G). 
The  report  is  short  and  to  the  purpose:  "Marshall  v.  Steward. 
Marshall  brought  an  action  of  the  case  against  Steward,  reciting 
the  statute  of  1  Jac.  of  invocation  of  foul  spirits,  (which  was  need- 
less,) for  speaking  these  words  unto  him,  « the  devil  appears  unto 
"thee  every  night  in  the  likeness  of  a  black  man,  riding  upon  & 
black  horse,  and  thou  conferrest  with  him,  and  whatever  thou  dost 
ask  him  he  doth  give  it  thee,  and  that  is  the  reason  thou  hast  so 
much  money.'  And  after  a  verdict  finding  the  words,  the  court 
gave  judgment  for  the  plaintiff."  Hobart's  Reports,  by  Curnmings, 


WITCHCRAFT.  131 

ers  of  darkness.  The  cause  of  the  change  is  rather 
to  be  sought  in  the  principles  of  our  nature,  and  is  to 
be  found  partly  in  that  instinctive  effort  for  self-preser- 
vation, which,  in  communities  of  individuals,  unites 
the  weak  against  oppression,  and  gives  courage  to  the 
feeble  and  unprotected.  A  belief  in  witchcraft  was 
one  of  the  superstitions  of  the  age  ;  and  the  change  of 
public  sentiment,  which  now  took  place,  was  not  so 
much  a  loss  of  faith  in  its  reality,  as  a  conviction  of  the 
uselessness  and  danger  of  punishing  it  by  human  laws. 
Of  the  causes  of  the  transient  delusion,  which  rose  so 
high,  and  terminated  so  fatally,  among  the  sober  and 
godly  people  of  New  England,  no  definite  explana- 
tion can,  at  this  distance  of  time,  be  given  ;  but  their 
descendants  may  be  allowed,  in  the  same  spirit  of 
trust  in  providence  which  distinguished  them,  to 
cherish  the  belief,  that  it  was  permitted  for  purposes 
of  wisdom  and  benevolence,  which  could  not  other- 
wise have  been  accomplished.1  When  its  work 
was  done  it  properly  ceased.  Such  moral  desola- 
tions often  pass  over  the  face  of  society  ;  the  thun- 
der storm  does  its  work  ;  the  atmosphere  becomes 
clear;  the  sun  shines  forth  and  reveals  to  all  the 
work  of  death. 

The  change  in  the  public  mind  was  complete  and 
universal.  Bitter  was  the  lamentation  of  the  whole 
community  for  the  sad  consequences  of  their  rash- 
ness and  delusion  ;  contrite  the  repentance  of  all 
who  had  been  actors  in  the  tragedy.  The  indigna- 

1  ;<  It  is  likely,''  says  Wynne,  "  that  this  frenzy  contributed  to 
work  off  the  ill  humors  of  the  New  England  people,  to  dissipate 
their  bigotry,  and  to  bring  them  to  a  more  free  use  of  their  reason. 


132  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

tion  of  the  people,  not  loud  but  deep  and  strong, 
was  directed  with  resistless  force  against  those  who 
had  been  particularly  active  in  these  insane  enormi- 
ties. Parris,  the  minister,  who  had  been  the  chief 
agent  in  these  acts  of  frenzy  and  folly,  and  who,  be- 
yond all  question,  made  use  of  the  popular  feeling 
to  gratify  his  own  malignant  feelings  of  revenge 
against  obnoxious  individuals,  was  compelled  to  leave 
his  people.  No  entreaties  were  of  any  avail ;  the 
humblest  confession  could  not  save  him  ;  it  was  not 
fitting  that  he  should  minister  at  the  altar  of  a  mer- 
ciful God,  within  sight  of  the  graves  of  those  whose 
entreaties  for  mercy  he  had  despised.  Noyes,  the 
minister  of  Salem,  consecrated  his  life  to  deeds  of 
mercy  ;  made  a  full  confession  ;  loved  and  blessed 
the  survivors  whom  he  had  injured  ;  asked  forgiveness 
of  all,  and  was  by  all  forgiven.  Cotton  Mather,  by 
artful  appeals  and  publications  in  which  he  wilfully 
suppressed  the  truth,  succeeded  for  a  while  in  deceiv- 
ing the  public,  and  perhaps  himself,  as  to  the  encour- 
agement he  had  given  to  the  proceedings  at  Salem. 
Still  eager  "  to  lift  up  a  standard  against  the  infernal 
enemy,"  he  got  up  a  case  of  witchcraft  in  his  own 
parish  ;  but  the  imposture  was  promptly  exposed  to 
ridicule  by  "  a  malignant,  calumnious,  and  reproachful 
man,"  "  a  coal  from  hell,"  the  unlettered  but  rational 
and  intelligent  Robert  Calef ;  and  Cotton  Mather's 
sha're  in  these  transactions  was  properly  appreciated 
long  before  his  death.  His  diary  proves  that  he  did 
not  wholly  escape  the  rising  impeachment  of  the  mon- 
itor within  ;  and  he,  who  had  sought  the  foundation 
of  faith  in  tales  of  wonder,  himself  "  had  tempta- 


WITCHCRAFT.  133 

tions  to  atheism,  and  to  the  abandonment  of  all  re- 
ligion as  a  mere  delusion."  ' 

The  jurors,  also,  signed  and  circulated  a  humble 
and  solemn  declaration  of  regret  for  the  part  they 
had  borne  in  these  trials.  "  We  fear,"  they  say, 
"  we  have  been  instrumental,  with  others,  though 
ignorantly  and  unwittingly,  to  bring  upon  ourselves 
and  this  people  of  the  Lord,  the  guilt  of  innocent 
blood."  "  We  do  humbly  beg  forgiveness,  first  of 
God  for  Christ's  sake,  for  this  our  error,  and  pray 
that  God  would  not  impute  the  guilt  of  it  to  our- 
selves nor  others ;  and  we  also  pray,  that  we  may  be 
considered  candidly  and  aright  by  the  living  suffer- 
ers, as  being  then  under  the  power  of  a  strong  and 
general  delusion,  utterly  unacquainted  with  and  not 
experienced  in  matters  of  that  nature.  We  do  heart- 
ily ask  forgiveness  of  you  all,  whom  we  have  justly 
offended ;  and  do  declare,  according  to  our  present 
minds,  we  would  none  of  us  do  such  things  again, 
on  such  grounds,  for  the  whole  world ;  praying  you 
to  accept  of  this,  in  way  of  satisfaction  for  our 
offence,  and  that  you  would  bless  the  inheritance  of 
the  Lord,  that  he  may  be  entreated  for  the  land." 

Nor  was  this  all.     The  government  of  the  prov- 


1  Bancroft,  iii,  98.  There  is  no  good  reason  to  suppose  that 
Mather  was  entirely  insincere  in  the  active  part  he  took  in  these 
proceedings.  Although  cunning,  selfish,  conceited,  arrogant,  and 
intolerant,  he  was  not  a  cruel  man,  and  he  had  a  real  horror  of 
witchcraft.  Indeed,  the  idea  that  the  Salem  witchcraft  was  the 
result  of  a  combination  between  a  few  ministers  will  not  bear  a 
moment's  examination,  although  the  extreme  to  which  it  was  car- 
ried, was  undoubtedly  owing  to  their  efforts. 
12 


134  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

ince  felt  with  the  people,  that  the  anger  of  a  just 
God  was  upon  them,  and  a  proclamation  was  issued 
for  a  fast  on  the  fourteenth  of  January,  1696  ;  at 
which  all  God's  people  were  enjoined  to  offer  up 
prayers,  "  that  He  would  show  us  what  we  know 
not,  and  help  us  wherein  we  have  done  amiss,  to 
do  so  no  more ;  and  especially  whatever  mistakes 
on  either  hand  have  been  fallen  into,  either  by  the 
body  of  this  people,  or  any  orders  of  men,  referring 
to  the  late  tragedy  raised  among  us  by  satan  and  his 
instruments,  through  the  awful  judgment  of  God." 

On  the  day  of  this  public  fast,  Sewall,  one  of  the 
judges  who  sat  in  all  of  these  cases,  sent  to  the  pulpit 
a  paper  acknowledging  his  error  in  the  late  proceed- 
ings, and  desiring  to  humble  himself  in  the  sight  of 
God  and  His  people.  He  stood  up  in  his  place  in 
the  old  south  church  in  Boston  while  it  was  read. 

"  Samuel  Sewall,  sensible  of  the  repeated  strokes  of 
God  upon  himself  and  family,  and  being  sensible  that 
as  to  guilt  contracted  upon  the  opening  of  the  late 
commission  of  oyer  and  terminer  at  Salem  (to  which 
the  order  for  this  day  relates)  he  is  upon  many  ac- 
counts more  concerned  than  any  that  he  knows  of, 
desires  to  take  the  blame  and  the  shame  of  it,  asking 
pardon  of  men,  and  especially  desiring  prayers  that 
God,  who  has  an  unlimited  authority,  would  pardon 
that  sin  and  all  other  his  sins,  personal  and  relative, 
and  according  to  his  infinite  benignity  and  sovereign- 
ty, and  not  visit  the  sin  of  him  or  of  any  other  upon 
himself  or  any  of  his,  nor  upon  the  land,  but  that  He 
would  powerfully  defend  him  against  all  temptations 


WITCHCRAFT.  135 

to  sin  for  the  future,  and  vouchsafe  to  him  the  effica- 
cious saving  conduct  of  His  word  and  spirit."  ' 

Stoughton,  the  chief  justice,  and  an  active  pro-- 
moter  of  these  prosecutions,  never  repented.  When 
informed  of  Sewall's  confession,  he  said,  that,  for 
himself,  when  he  sat  in  judgment,  he  had  the  fear  of 
God  before  his  eyes,  and  gave  his  opinion  according 
to  the  best  of  his  understanding ;  and  although  it 
might  appear  afterwards,  that  he  had  been  in  an 
error,  yet  he  saw  no  necessity  for  a  public  acknow- 
ledgment of  it.2 

Nor  was  the  work  of  restitution  confined  to  that 
day.  Many  years  afterwards  a  resolution  was  adopt- 
ed by  the  general  court,  for  the  appointment  of  a 
committee  to  make  inquiry  into  the  condition  and 
circumstances  of  individuals  and  families,  that  might 
have  suffered  from  the  "  calamity  of  1692,"  and  a 
law  was  made  reversing  the  attainders  of  those  con- 
victed, and  making  a  grant  for  and  in  consideration 


1  In  Sewall's  diary  under  the  date  of  April  11 ,  1G92,  is  written  : 
"  Went  to  Salem,  where,  in  the  meetinghouse,  the  persons  accused 
of  witchcraft  were  examined;  was  a  very  great  assembly  ;  'twas 
awful  to  see  how  the  afflicted  persons  were  agitated."  But  in 
the  margin  is  written  with  a  tremulous  hand,  probably  on  a  sub- 
sequent review,  the  lamenting  Latin  interjection  VCE,  Vte,  VCR, 
Holmes's  American  Annals,  i.  446.  The  frankness  and  sincerity 
of  his  confession  atoned  for  his  error  ;  and  he  and  his  descendants 
long  enjoyed  the  public  favor.  He  was  appointed  chief  justice  of 
the  superior  cour.t  in  1718.  He  died  in  1730,  at  the  age  of  seventy. 

z  He  was  the  first  chief  justice  of  the  superior  court,  appointed 
in  1692.  He  lived  and  died  a  bachelor.  Educated  a  minister,  he 
possessed  few  legal  attainments.  He  made  atonement  for  his  big- 
otry by  contributing,  in  his  life  time,  to  the  cause  of  education. 
He  erected  for  the  use  of  Harvard  College  the  building  known  as 
Stoughton  Hall. 


136  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

of  the  losses  sustained.  In  1712,  the  church  in  Sa- 
lem, to  which  Rebecca  Nurse  had  belonged,  at  the 
solicitation  of  her  son,  repealed  and  reversed  its  cen- 
sure by  blotting  out  the  record  of  her  excommunica- 
tion, "  that  it  may  no  longer  be  a  reproach  to  her 
memory,  and  an  occasion  of  grief  to  her  children." 
A  similar  step  was  taken  in  reference  to  Giles  Cory, 
and  the  like  justice  was  done  to  the  memory  of  his 
wife,  Martha  Cory,  by  the  church  at  Salem  village. 
The  records  of  that  church  also  contain  a  most  touch- 
ing and  pungent  declaration  of  sorrow  and  repent- 
ance, made  thirteen  years  afterwards  by  Ann  Put- 
nam, already  mentioned  as  one  of  the  principal  ac- 
cusers.1 

Many  of  the  witnesses  confessed  their  error,  and 
some  of  them  acknowledged  that  they  had  been 
guilty  of  fraud  and  imposture ;  but  none  of  those 
who  had  so  unscrupulously  sworn  away  the  lives  of 
innocent  persons  were  ever  brought  to  trial  for  the 
crime.  Some  of  them,  it  is  related,  proved  profli- 
gate persons,  abandoned  to  all  vice  ;  others  passed 
their  lives  in  obscurity  and  disgrace.  The  past  could 
not  be  repaired  ;  the  dead  were  beyond  recall ;  and 
there  seemed  to  be  no  disposition  to  renew  the  agi- 
tation, or  inflict  punishment  on  those  who  had  been 
instrumental  in  the  calamity. 


The  most  obvious  remark,  in  a  legal  point  of  view, 
which  suggests  itself  respecting  these  trials,  is  the 
singular  illegality  of  the  mode  in  which  they  were 

1  Upham's  Lectures,  25. 


WITCHCRAFT.  137 

conducted.  "The  executions  for  witchcraft  must  be 
considered,  upon  the  great  principles  of  the  common 
law,  as  a  series  of  judicial  murders.  The  tribunal  by 
authority  of  which  they  took  place  existed  by  no  war- 
rant of  law.  By  the  province  charter  of  William  and 
Mary,  the  general  court  alone  was  authorized  to  es- 
tablish judicatories  ;  consequently  the  act  of  governor 
Phipps,  in  erecting  the  special  court  of  oyer  and  ter- 
miner,  was  a  clear  and  direct  usurpation  of  power, 
and  the  court  by  which  so  many  lives  were  sajcrificed 
was,J>eyond  all  controversy,  an  illegal  tribunalTZ- 
"\TJpon  the  illegality  of  the  general  proceedings  it  is 
scarcely  necessary  to  remark.  Every  barrier,  erected 
by  the  wisdom  of  the  law  for  the  protection  of  inno- 
cence, was  broken  down.  Hearsay  evidence  of  the 
most  general  character  was  unscrupulously  admitted  ; 
irrelevant  testimony  was  never  excluded.  What 
need  to  point  out  the  utter  perversion  of  law,  in  the 
manner  of  obtaining  and  using  the  confessions  of 
those  supposed  to  be  bewitched  ?  Why  mention  the 
monstrous  doctrine  of  holding  persons  of  unblemished 
reputation  responsible  for  the  acts  of  their  apparitions 
or  spectres,  when  they  themselves  were  not  present 
as  to  the  body7^> 

But  neither  is  the  common  law  nor  are  its  professors 
responsible  for  these  mistaken  proceedings.  The 
special  court  of  oyer  and  terminer  was  essentially  a 
POPULAR  TRIBUNAL.  There  was  not  a  regular  lawyer 
concerned  in  its  proceedings.  The  judges  were  not 
annoyed  by  the  impertinent  interference  of  advocates  ; 
the  jury,  untrammelled  by  the  \<  quibbles  of  the  law," 
were  left  to  follow  their  own  feelings  and  feed  the  pop- 
12- 


138  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

ular  excitement.  The  terrible  scenes  that  ensued  speak 
trumpet-tongued  for  an  inflexible  adherence  to  those 
rules  and  technical  forms  in  legal  proceedings,  which 
have  received  the  sanction  of  ages,  and  are  incorpo- 
rated into  our  jurisprudence.  There  is  in  the  law 
a  silent  power  which  protects,  while  we  are  least 
conscious  of  needing  protection ;  which  saves  when 
we  are  unconscious  of  danger.  In  times  of  unusual 
excitement  and  alarm,  when  the  popular  voice,  di- 
rected by  some  skilful  hand,  demands  a  victim,  its 
conservative  influence  is  seen  and  acknowledged  ;  it 
is  the  ark  of  safety  to  which  the  innocent  fly  for 
protection,  strong  in  hope  that  it  will  bear  them  in 
safety  above  the  troubled  waters.  But  without  the 
assistance  of  those  who  have  made  its  principles  the 
study  of  their  lives,  and  its  practice  their  daily  occu- 
pation, its  energies  are  powerless  ;  or  it  may  become, 
in  the  hands  of  ignorant  and  designing  men,  the 
most  powerful  engine  of  oppression  which  human 
ingenuity  can  invent  —  the  most  cruel  murders  and 
the  most  unjust  punishments  having  at  different  times 
received  the  sanction  of  its  forms.  If  it  be  said, 
that  the  learned  and  pious  Sir  Matthew  Hale  tried 
and  condemned  witches  to  death,  the  reply  is  at 
hand,  that  Lord  Holt,  equally  learned  as  a  lawyer, 
equally  virtuous  and  conscientious  as  a  man,  and 
free  from  the  religious  peculiarities  of  Hale,  opened 
the  eyes  of  the  public  in  England,  to  the  folly  of 
these  trials  by  applying  to  them  the  severe  and  in- 
flexible principles  of  the  law. 

The  moral  phenomena  attending  the  Salem  witch- 
craft form  a  subject  of  curious,  rather  than  profitable 


WITCHCRAFT.  139 

speculation,  which  is  somewhat  foreign  to  the  objects 
of  this  work.  It  may  be  remarked  generally,  how- 
ever, that  this  delusion,  in  some  of  its  aspects,  has 
never  been  satisfactorily  explained.  Time  has  rather 
obscured  than  thrown  light  upon  the  subject ;  and  it 
must  be  placed  in  that  large  class  of  historical  facts 
for  which  succeeding  generations  find  it  impossible 
to  account.  That  it  was  attended  by  fraud  and  im- 
posture, and  that  the  people  labored  under  a  complete 
frenzy  in  their  treatment  of  it,  admits  of  no  doubt. 
But  that  it  was  not  all  fraud  and  imposture  ;  that 
there  were  certain  appearances  exhibited  which  it  is 
impossible  to  explain  upon  any  principles  of  natural 
philosophy  then  known,  or  now  generally  acknow- 
ledged ;  is  as  well  established  as  any  historical  fact 
of  which  we  have  any  record.  "  Flashy  people," 
says  Cotton  Mather,  on  a  review  of  the  proceedings, 
"  may  burlesque  these  things,  but  when  hundreds  of 
the  most  sober  people,  in  a  country  where  they  have 
as  much  mother  wit  certainly  as  the  rest  of  mankind, 
know  them  to  be  true,  nothing  but  the  absurd  and 
fro  ward  spirit  of  sadducism  can  question  them." ' 

It  is  a  matter  of  regret,  that  contemporary  writers 
upon  matters  of  this  sort  run  into  the  wildest  enthu- 
siasm and  receive  every  marvellous  tale  as  true  ;  or, 
on  the  other  hand,  go  to  the  opposite  extreme  and 
reject  every  fact,  however  well  established,  which 
does  not  comport  with  their  philosophical  creed.  It 
is  the  doctrine  of  true  philosophy,  sanctioned  by  the 
soundest  dictates  of  religious  faith,  that  the  spiritual 

1  Magnalia  Christ!  Americana,  ii,  61. 


140  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

and  natural  worlds,  depending  upon  and  acting  with 
each  other,  are  separated  by  the  thinnest  veil.  It 
is  easier  to  admit,  that  human  affairs  may  sometimes 
reach  the  extremest  limits  of  the  one  and  pass  within 
the  confines  of  the  other,  than  it  is  to  deny  human 
testimony  of  the  highest  order,  and  discredit  the 
solemn  asseverations  of  the  most  virtuous  of  men. 


TRIAL  OF  THOMAS  MAULE 


SUPERIOR  COURT  OF  JUDICATURE, 

FOR    A    SLANDEROUS    PUBLICATION    AND    BLASPHEMY, 
SALEM,  MASSACHUSETTS,  1696. 


The  following  trial  is  chiefly  compiled  from  a  work  entitled, 
"  Persecutors  Maul'd  with  their  Own  Weapons."  I  have  seen  but 
one  copy  of  it,  which  is  contained  in  the  library  of  the  Massachu- 
setts Historical  Society.  The  title  page  is  gone,  but  the  work  ap- 
pears to  have  been  published  soon  after  the  trial,  in  1696.  The 
book  purports  to  have  been  written  by  "  Tho.  Philathes,"  but  is 
probably  the  production  of  Maule  himself.  From  an  examination 
of  the  state  and  court  records,  the  general  statements  of  the  au- 
thor appear  to  be  correct,  although  the  narrative  is  undoubtedly 
highly  colored.  The  trial  took  place  at  Salern,  in  1696,  before  his 
Majesty's  Superior  Court  of  Judicature,  Court  of  Assize  and  Gen- 
eral Gaol  Delivery.  The  justices  present  were  Thomas  Danforth, 
Elisha  Cooke,  and  Samuel  Sewall.  William  Stoughton,  the  chief 
justice,  was  not  present. 


•HI 


TRIAL  OF  THOMAS  MAULE. 


THE  difficulties  between  the  government  of  Mas- 
sachusetts and  the  quakers  continued  for  many  years 
after  the  more  severe  laws  against  the  sect  had 
been  repealed.  They  were  still  regarded  as  danger- 
ous intruders  in  the  country  ;  and  they  were  not 
disposed  to  forget  the  treatment  they  had  formerly 
received  ;  but  their  declamations  against  those  in  au- 
thority were  equally  bold,  if  not  so  noisy,  as  when 
they  first  arrived  in  the  colony.  Every  misfortune 
which  occurred  to  the  government,  they  attributed 
to  a  special  judgment  for  their  own  sufferings ;  and, 
instead  of  sympathizing  with  others  for  the  troubles 
incident  to  all,  they  kept  themselves  aloof,  as  if  the 
dispensations  of  providence  were  not  intended  for 
their  benefit.  Their  writers  busily  collected  all  the 
public  calamities  of  the  province,  and  held  them  up 
as  the  judgments  of  heaven,  commenting  upon  them 


144  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

with  a  severity  of  reproof  which  was  not  the  less  an- 
noying, that  it  was  somewhat  deserved.1 

Among  those  who  rendered  themselves  particularly 
obnoxious  on  this  account,  was  Thomas  Maule,  of 
Salem  ;  a  man  of  great  influence  among  the  quakers. 
By  profession  a  merchant,  he  possessed  great  energy 
of  character  united  with  considerable  wit,  acute  reason- 
ing powers,  and  a  ready  eloquence.  He  was  several 
times  severely  punished  for  his  opinions,  and  as  early 
as  1669,  was  sentenced  to  be  whipped  ten  stripes, 
for  saying  that  Mr.  Higginson,  the  minister  of  Salem, 
preached  lies,  and  that  his  instruction  was  the  doctrine 
of  devils.2  About  the  year  1695,  he  published  a 
book,  entitled  the  "  Truth  set  forth,"  in  which  he 
gave  a  particular  account  of  "  God's  judgments  upon 
the  persecuting  priests  and  rulers  ;  "  and  among  them 
he  placed  the  Salem  Witchcraft,  which  he  commented 
upon  in  a  style  of  cool  and  cutting  sarcasm,  that 
could  scarcely  be  borne  with  patience  by  those  in 
authority,  who  were  very  sensitive  upon  that  subject. 

Maule  was  accordingly  arrested  by  order  of  the 
council  ;  his  house  was  searched,  and  all  the  books 
that  were  found  were  destroyed.  When  brought 
before  the  governor  and  council,  in  Boston,  he  re- 
fused to  answer  any  questions,  and  demanded  to  be 
tried  in  his  own  county  by  a  jury  of  his  equals.  He 
was  then  dismissed  on  heavy  bail,  and,  at  a  session 


1  Sewel,  the  historian  of  the  quakers,  mentions  as  one  of  the 
judgments  of  heaven  on  the  town  of  Boston,  that  no  wheat  could 
be  rai-ed  within  twenty  miles  of  the  place,  since  the  hanging  of  the 
quakers  in  1659. 

*  Felt's  Annals  of  Salem,  236. 


THOMAS    MAULE.  145 

of  the  superior  court,  at  Salem,  in  1696,  the  grand 
jury  made  the  following  presentment  against  him. 
."  At  a  superior  court  held  in  Salem,  for  our  sovereign 
lord  the  king,  in  the  county  of  Essex,  in  the  pro- 
vince of  the  Massachusetts  bay  in  New  England,  the 
tenth  day  of  the  ninth  month,  1696,  the  grand  jury 
do  present  Thomas  Maule,  of  Salem,  shopkeeper,  for 
publishing  or  putting  forth  a  book  entitled,  '  Truth 
held  forth  and  maintained,'  wherein  is  contained  di- 
vers slanders  against  the  churches  and  government  of 
this  province  ;  and  for  saying  at  the  honorable  court 
at  Ipswich,  in  May  last,  that  there  was  as  great  mis- 
takes in  the  scriptures  as  in  his  book." 

Dr.  Benjamin  Bullivant  appeared  for  the  prisoner 
and  put  in  a  plea  to  the  sufficiency  of  the  present- 
ment, alleging  that  the  matters  contained  in  it  were 
too  general  and  uncertain  ;  that  neither  county,  year 
or  day  were  mentioned  ;  that  it  was  not  laid  upon 
oath  ;  that  the  king's  name  was  not  mentioned  ;  that 
if  it  were  true  the  defendant  said  that  there  were  as 
many  mistakes  in  the  scriptures  as  in  iiis  book,  this 
was  not  punishable,  the  presentment  not  alleging  that 
they  were  the  holy  scriptures  or  word  of  God,  there 
being  profane  as  well  as  sacred  scriptures,  and  he 
might  have  referred  to  the  former.  These  points 
were  briefly  replied  to  by  Anthony  Checkley,1  the 
king's  attorney,  and  the  plea  was  overruled  by  the 
court.  The  prisoner  was  then  put  upon  his  defence, 
and  addressed  the  court  in  his  own  behalf. 


1  He  was  a  Boston  merchant,  and  appears  by  the  records  to  have 
been  a  party  litigant  to  several  suits  while  he  was  attorney  general. 
13 


146  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

Maule.  You  who  have  set  yourselves  to  be  judges 
in  this  case  against  me,  as  you  are  invested  with 
magisterial  power,  I  respect  you ;  but  wherein  you 
assume  to  yourselves  the  power  of  the  bishops'  court, 
as  in  this  case,  I  no  more  value  you  than  I  do  Jack- 
straw.  If  you  would  approve  yourselves  wise  men, 
you  ought  to  amend  the  many  rents  you  have  already 
made  by  the  mismanagement  of  the  trust  committed 
to  your  charge.  If  you  are  resolved  to  make  a  rod 
for  me,  see  that  it  be  light  for  the  more  care  of  your 
own  that  is  to  come,  for  it  is  said  by  Him  that  can- 
not lie  ;  "  the  same  measure  that  men  make,  the 
same  shall  be  made  to  them  again."  If  your  power 
continues  long,  he  that  now  enjoys  a  good  estate 
under  your  government,  seven  years  hence  may  not 
be  left  worth  a  groat.  You  are  set  to  watch  over  the 
people,  but  things  have  come  to  such  a  pass  by  your 
means,  that  they  have  greater  need  to  watch  over 
you. 

Justice  Danforth.  Gentlemen  of  the  jury  :  having 
taken  a  solemn  oath  to  do  the  thing  that  is  right  in 
the  sight  of  God  as  near  as  you  can,  you  ought  well 
to  consider  the  horrid  wickedness  of  Thomas  Maule's 
setting  forth  the  book  now  before  you,  in  which  there 
is  contained  a  great  deal  of  blasphemous  matter 
against  the  churches  and  government  of  this  pro- 
vince. You  well  know,  that  when  the  husbandman 
hath  taken  great  care  and  labor  to  fence  in  his  field 
of  wheat,  and  there  comes  a  ravenous  creature  and 
makes  a  gap  through  the  fence  for  other  like  creatures 
to  go  through  and  spoil  the  corn,  and  to  trample 
down  and  lay  waste  the  husbandman's  field,  he  will 


THOMAS    MAULE.  147 

use  his  utmost  endeavor  to  destroy  such  a  ravenous 
creature.  How  much  more  are  we  to  preserve  the 
hedge  of  that  good  Husbandman,  with  which  He 
hath,  by  his  ordinances,  and  good  government,  fenced 
and  hedged  his  churches  and  people  in  this  province  ! 
But  this  work  of  Thomas  Maule  wholly  tends  to 
overthrow  all  good  in  church  and  commonwealth, 
which  God  has  planted  amongst  his  people  in  this 
province.  The  cause  and  the  book  is  now  committed 
to  your  hands,  to  perform  your  duty  relative  to  the 
same  as  God  shall  enable  you. 

Maule.  Jurymen,  look  well  to  the  work  which 
you  are  now  about  to  do.  The  case  is  committed  to 
you,  who  are  to  be  governed  by  the  king's  law.  No 
part  of  that  law  have  I  broken.  The  book  is  no  evi- 
dence in  law  against  me,  further  than  you  are  satis- 
fied that  I  have  written  any  thing  contrary  to  sound 
doctrine  and  inconsistent  with  the  holy  scriptures. 
If  you  favor  any  of  the  unjust  charge  of  the  judges 
against  me,  and  say  there  is  such  matter  in  the  book 
as  they  charge  me  with,  you  must  go  to  the  printer 
for  satisfaction,  for  I  am  ignorant  of  any  such  matter 
in  the  book.  My  hand  is  only  to  my  copy,  which  is 
in  the  hands  of  the  printer  in  another  government, 
and  my  name  in  the  printed  book  does  not  in  law 
prove  the  same  to  be  Thomas  Maule,  any  more  than 
the  spectre  evidence  is  in  law  sufficient  to  prove  a 
person  accused  by  such  evidence  to  be  a  witch. 
Look  well,  therefore,  to  your  work,  for  you  have 
sworn  true  trial  to  make  and  just  verdict  to  give.  If 
you  do  me  injustice  the  fault  will  be  your  own,  for 
these  my  accusers  on  the  bench  are  but  as  clerks  to 
say  "  amen  "  to  what  you  do. 


148  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

This  bold  address  to  the  jury  accomplished  its 
purpose.  They  soon  returned  a  verdict  of  not  guilty, 
at  which  the  judges  expressed  much  dissatisfaction, 
and  asked  how  they  could  return  such  a  verdict  with 
the  book  before  them  ?  They  replied,  that  the  book 
was  not  sufficient  evidence,  for  Thomas  Maule's  name 
was  placed  there  by  the  printer.  Besides,  the  mat- 
ter contained  in  it  was  not  cognizable  by  them,  who 
were  not  a  jury  of  divines,  which  this  case  required. 

Justice  Danforth.  Thomas  Maule  may  escape  the 
hands  of  men,  but  he  has  not  escaped  the  hand  of 
God,  who  will  find  out  all  his  evils  and  blasphemies 
against  his  church  and  people ;  and  has  reserved 
him  for  further  judgment. 

Maule.  I  am  in  no  way  guilty  of  your  charge, 
but  have  great  cause  to  praise  God  for  my  deliver- 
ance by  the  jury  who  are  made  instruments  of  free- 
ing me  out  of  the  hands  of  them,  who  have  mani- 
fested their  unrighteous  works  against  the  people  of 
God  and  the  king's  subjects,  as  their  fathers  did  be- 
fore them. 

Justice  Danforth.  Take  him  away  ;  take  him 
away. 

The  prisoner  was  then  discharged.  The  record  of 
the  case  was  thus  made  up.  "  Thomas  Maule  of 
Salem,  shopkeeper,  indicted  by  the  grand  jurors  of 
our  sovereign  lord  the  king,  upon  their  oaths,  for 
publishing,  or  putting  forth,  a  book  entitled  '  Truth 
held  forth  and  maintained,'  wherein  is  contained 
divers  slanders  against  the  government  and  churches 
of  this  province,  as  set  out  in  the  indictment,  and 
being  arraigned,  pleaded  not  guilty,  and  for  trial  put 


THOMAS    MAULE.  149 

himself  on  the  country  ;  and  a  jury  being  accordingly 
impannelled  and  sworn,  John  Turner,  foreman,  (no 
exception  being  made,)  and  the  indictment  read, 
and  pleas  fully  heard,  the  jury  went  forth  and  re- 
turned, bringing  in  their  verdict,  viz.  They  find 
the  defendant  not  guilty  according  to  indictment." 

This  trial  is  chiefly  interesting  as  an  exhibition  of 
the  independence  of  the  jury,  which  is  in  striking  con- 
trast with  the  conduct  of  those  jurors,  who  followed 
implicitly  the  directions  of  the  court  in  the  trials  for 
witchcraft  in  1692.  It  is  probable,  that  the  general 
feelings  of  disapprobation,  with  which  those  proceed- 
ings were  regarded,  did  much  to  render  jurors  in- 
dependent of  the  court,  and  to  cause  them  to  rely 
more  on  their  own  opinions  in  matters  for  which 
they  alone  were  responsible.  The  allusion  of  Maule 
to  the  witch  prosecutions  was  ingenious  ;  and  his 
whole  defence,  although  inadequately  reported,  proves 
him  to  have  been  a  man  of  strong  mind,  and  not  un- 
worthy of  the  confidence  placed  in  him  by  his  own 
sect.  He  died  in  1724. 


13* 


TRIAL  OF  JOHN  PETER  ZENGER 


BEFORE     THE 


SUPREME  COURT  OF  NEW  YORK, 

FOR    TWO    LIBELS    ON    THE    GOVERNMENT, 

NEW  YORK,  1735. 


The  trial  of  John  Peter  Zenger,  for  a  libel,  appears  to  have  been 
published  by  himself  soon  after  the  trial  in  1735.  It  was  reprinted 
in  1756,  and  again,  in  1770.  The  last  mentioned  edition  is  the  ear- 
liest I  have  been  able  to  find.  The  title  page  is  as  follows  :  "  A 
Brief  Narrative  of  the  Case  and  Trial  of  John  Peter  Zenger,  Printer 
of  the  New  York  Weekly  Journal,  for  a  Libel.  '  In  a  free  state 
such  as  ours  is,  all  men  ought  to  enjoy  and  express  their  minds 
freely.  Tiberius  Caesar.'  New  York  :  Reprinted  by  Joseph  Holt, 
at  the  Exchange.  1770."  The  work  was  reprinted  in  London  in 
1764.  Soon  after  the  first  publication  of  Zenger's  trial,  some  re- 
marks were  published,  apparently  by  a  tory  lawyer,  in  which  Ham- 
ilton's speech  was  most  severely  and  very  ably  criticised.  It  was 
pronounced  a  species  of  legal  quackery,  and  the  star  chamber  was 
declared  to  be  one  of  the  most  useful  and  beneficial  institutions  that 
ever  existed  in  England  !  The  writer  asserts,  that  the  doctrines  of 
Mr.  Hamilton  are  so  at  variance  with  the  law,  it  could  not  be  im- 
agined that  so  wild  and  idle  an  harangue  could  have  had  any 
weight,  but  as  the  trial  had  been  twice  reprinted,  and  this  extraor- 
dinary declamation  had  been  mentioned  with  an  air  of  applause  and 
triumph  in  several  newspapers,  he  thought  fit  to  communicate  his 
remarks  to  the  public.  These  remarks  and  Zenger's  trial  are  re- 
printed in  the  seventeenth  volume  of  Howell's  State  Trials. 


TRIAL  OF  JOHN  PETER  ZENGER. 


SOON  after  the  appointment  of  William  Crosby  as 
governor  of  New  York,  in  1732,  he  found  himself  in- 
volved in  difficulties  of  a  serious  character,  which  soon 
placed  him  in  direct  collision  with  the  people  he  was 
sent  to  govern,  on  account  of  certain  illegal  and  un- 
warrantable proceedings,  in  relation  to  which  he  asked 
and  would  receive  no  advice  from  those  he  was  in 
duty  bound  to  consult.  The  house  of  assembly, 
chosen  under  royalist  influences,  took  the  side  of  the 
governor,  and  the  council  offered  little  or  no  resist- 
ance to  his  arbitrary  measures.  The  courts  of  law 
were  more  difficult  to  manage.  Morris,  the  chief 
justice,  declined  to  obey  an  illegal  order  of  the  gov- 
ernor and  was  displaced,  James  de  Lancey  being  ap- 
pointed in  his  place.  Complaints  could  only  be 
heard  through  the  press.  A  newspaper  was  estab- 
lished to  defend  the  popular  cause,  in  which  able 
and  popular  writers  attacked  the  governor  and  every 
branch  of  the  government  with  great  boldness  and 


154  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

zeal.  The  squibs,  ballads,  and  serious  charges  of  the 
Weekly  Journal,  irritated  the  governor  and  his  coun- 
cil to  madness  ;  and  John  Peter  Zenger,  its  printer,  a 
poor,  but  energetic  and  bold  man,  rendered  himself 
extremely  obnoxious  to  those  in  authority.  The  new 
chief  justice,  de  Lancey,  made  strong  efforts  to  pro- 
cure an  indictment  against  him  for  a  libel.  "  Some- 
times," he  told  the  grand  jury,  "  heavy,  half  witted 
men  get  a  knack  of  rhyming,  but  it  is  time  to  break 
them  of  it  wnen  they  grow  abusive,  insolent  and  ma- 
licious with  it."  But  the  effort  was  in  vain.  The 
grand  jury,  fresh  from  the  people,  could  not  be  in- 
duced to  assist  in  the  oppression  of  the  people's  friend. 
The  council  then  took  up  the  matter,  and,  having 
examined  four  of  Zenger's  newspapers,  pronounced 
them  to  be  false,  scandalous,  malicious,  and  seditious 
libels,  and  ordered  them  to  be  burned  by  the  common 
hangman.  But  when  the  order  was  read  in  the  court 
of  quarter  sessions,  and  the  sheriff  moved  for  the 
compliance  of  the  magistrates,  the  court  would  not 
suffer  the  order  to  be  entered,  and  the  aldermen 
offered  a  protest  against  it,  as  an  arbitrary  and  illegal 
injunction.  The  sheriff  then  ordered  his  negro  to 
burn  the  papers,  which  was  accordingly  done.  Zen- 
ger was  soon  after  arrested  by  order  of  the  council, 
thrown  into  jail,  and  denied  pen,  ink  and  paper.  His 
friends  procured  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  and,  upon 
argument,  he  was  admitted  to  bail,  but  the  amount 
was  fixed  so  high  that  he  was  unable  to  procure  it, 
and  at  the  next  session  of  the  supreme  court,  efforts 
were  vainly  made  by  the  judges  and  the  attorney 
general  to  induce  the  grand  jury  to  make  a  present- 


JOHN    PETER    ZENGER.  155 

ment  against  the  prisoner.  The  attorney  general 
then  charged  him  by  information  for  a  misdemeanor 
in  printing,  in  two  numbers  of  his  journal,  the  follow- 
ing "  false,  scandalous,  malicious,  and  seditious  libels  " 
of  and  concerning  governor  Crosby  and  his  council. 
"  Your  appearance  in  print,  at  last,  gives  a  pleasure 
to  many,  though  most  wish  you  had  come  fairly  into 
the  open  field,  and  not  appeared  behind  retrench- 
ments made  of  the  supposed  laws  against  libelling : 
these  retrenchments,  gentlemen,  may  soon  be  shown 
to  you  and  all  men  to  be  very  weak,  and  to  have 
neither  law  nor  reason  for  their  foundation,  so  can- 
not long  stand  you  in  stead :  therefore,  you  had  much 
better  as  yet  leave  them,  and  come  to  what  the  peo- 
ple of  this  city  and  province  think  are  the  points  in 
question.  They  think  as  matters  now  stand,  that' 
their  liberties  and  properties  are  precarious,  and  that 
slavery  is  like  to  be  entailed  on  them  and  their  pos- 
terity, if  some  past  things  be  not  amended,  and  this 
they  collect  from  many  past  proceedings."  "  One  of 
our  neighbors  of  New  Jersey  being  in  company,  ob- 
serving the  strangers  of  New  York  full  of  complaints, 
endeavored  to  persuade  them  to  remove  into  Jersey ; 
to  which  it  was  replied,  that  would  be  leaping  out  of 
the  frying  pan  into  the  fire  ;  for,  says  he,  we  both  are 
under  the  same  governor,  and  your  assembly  have 
shown  with  a  witness,  what  is  to  be  expected  from 
them ;  one  that  was  then  moving  from  New  York  to 
Pennsylvania,  to  which  place  it  is  reported  several 
considerable  men  are  removing,  expressed  in  terms 
very  moving,  much  concern  for  the  circumstances  of 
New  York,  and  seemed  to  think  them  very  much 


I 

156  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

owing  to  the  influence  that  some  men  had  in  the  ad- 
ministration ;  said  he  was  now  going  from  them,  and 
was  not  to  be  hurt  by  any  measures  they  should 
take ;  but  could  not  help  having  some  concern  for 
the  welfare  of  his  countrymen,  and  should  be  glad  to 
hear  that  the  assembly  would  exert  themselves  as  be- 
come them,  by  showing  that  they  have  the  interest 
of  their  country  more  at  heart,  than  the  gratification 
of  any  private  view  of  any  of  their  members ;  or 
being  at  all  affected  by  the  smiles  or  frowns  of  a  go- 
vernor ;  both  which  ought  equally  to  be  despised, 
when  the  interest  of  their  country  is  at  stake.  You, 
says  he,  complain  of  the  lawyers,  but  I  think  the  law 
itself  is  at  an  end.  We  see  men's  deeds  destroyed, 
/  judges  arbitrarily  displaced,  new  courts  erected  with- 
out consent  of  the  legislature,  by  which  it  seems  to 
me,  trials  by  juries  are  taken  away  when  a  governor 
pleases ;  men  of  known  estates  denied  their  votes, 
contrary  to  the  received  practice  of  the  best  exposi- 
tor of  any  law.  Who  is  there  in  that  province  that 
can  call  any  thing  his  own,  or  enjoy  any  liberty  longer 
than  those  in  the  administration  will  condescend  to 
let  them  do  it,  for  which  reason  I  left  it,  as  I  believe 
more  will." 

James  Alexander  and  William  Smith,  the  counsel 
of  Zenger,  and  popular  leaders,  immediately  filed 
exceptions  to  the  commissions  of  the  judges :  first, 
to  the  tenure,  which  was  at  will  and  pleasure,  instead 
of  during  good  behavior ;  second,  to  the  investi- 
ture ;  third,  to  the  form ;  fourth,  to  the  want  of 
evidence  that  the  council  concurred  with  the  gover- 
nor in  their  appointment.  When  the  counsel  of  the 


JOHN    PETER    ZENGER.  157 

prisoner  presented  these  exceptions,  and  moved  that 
they  be  filed,  the  chief  justice  warned  them  of  the 
consequences.  They  boldly  and  firmly  answered 
that  they  had  well  considered  their  course  and 
would  abide  the  consequences.  "  I  am  so  well  sat- 
isfied," was  the  declaration  of  one  of  them,  "  of 
the  right  of  the  subject  to  take  exception  to  the 
commission  of  a  judge  if  he  think  such  commission 
illegal,  that  I  will  stake  my  life  on  the  point.  The 
validity  of  the  exceptions  in  the  present  case  is 
another  matter.  I  am  ready  to  argue  the  point  when 
the  court  will  hear  me."  The  subject  was  deferred 
to  the  next  morning,  when  the  counsel  of  Zenger 
again  asked  leave  to  argue  the  point.  "  We  will 
neither  hear  you,  nor  allow  the  exceptions,"  was  the 
reply  of  the  chief  justice  ;  "  you  think  to  gain  popu- 
larity and  the  applause  of  the  people  by  opposing 
this  court.  The  matter  has  come  to  the  point,  that 
we  must  leave  the  bench,  or  you  the  bar."  An  or- 
der was  immediately  passed  excluding  them  from 
any  farther  practice  in  the  court,  and  their  names 
were  struck  from  the  roll  of  attorneys. 

Meanwhile,  the  friends  of  Zenger  secretly  sent  to 
Philadelphia  and  retained,  in  his  behalf,  the  venera- 
ble Andrew  Hamilton,  then  about  eighty  years  of 
age,  but  in  the  full  possession  and  enjoyment  of  his 
faculties.  Hamilton  was  a  distinguished  barrister  of 
that  day.  Educated  in  England,  and  in  practice 
there  before  coming  to  this  country,  he  had  a  good 
knowledge  of  law  as  a  science,  and  took  the  highest 
rank  in  his  profession.  His  honor,  integrity  and 
ability  secured  for  him  the  respect  and  admiration 
14 


158  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

of  many  who  differed  from  him  in  opinion.  He  was 
an  ardent  friend  of  free  and  liberal  institutions,  and, 
fearless  of  consequences,  he  denounced  the  encroach- 
ments and  usurpations  of  those  in  authority  with  a 
boldness  that  excited  their  fear  and  hatred,  while  his 
easy  and  graceful  eloquence,  his  powers  of  sarcasm, 
and  his  powerful  declamations  enraptured  the  peo- 
ple.1 Such  was  the  advocate  to  whom  the  defence 
of  the  New  York  printer  was  entrusted.  His  argu- 
ment upon  this  occasion,  which  was  regarded  as  the 
most  celebrated  event  of  that  day,  obtained  for  him 
complete  success  upon  a  ground  which  was  after- 
wards vainly  attempted  in  England.  In  the  opinion 
of  a  patriot  of  the  revolution,  this  trial,  in  which  Ham- 
ilton bore  so  conspicuous  a  part,  was  the  germ  of 
American  freedom,  the  morning  star  of  that  liberty, 
which  subsequently  revolutionized  America.2 

The  trial  took  place  in  the  supreme  court  of  New 
York,  on  the  fourth  of  August,  1735,  before  James 
de  Lancey,  chief  justice,  Frederick  Felipse,  second 
justice,  and  a  jury.  The  counsel  of  the  prisoner 
were  Andrew  Hamilton,  of  Philadelphia,  and  John 
Chambers  of  New  York.  Bradley,  the  attorney  gen- 
eral, appeared  for  the  prosecution.  On  his  arraign- 
ment the  defendant  pleaded  not  guilty,  and  witnesses 
were  in  attendance  to  prove  the  fact,  that  the  papers 

1  Proud,  the  historian  of  Pennsylvania,  gives  his  speech  upon  the 
occasion  of  his  taking  leave  of  the  assembly,  of  which  he  had  been 
the  speaker,  on  account  of  age  and  infirmities.     This  was  in  1739, 
about  five  years  after  his  celebrated  defence  of  Zenger.     He  died 
in  1741. 

2  Governeur  Morris.     Hinton's  History  of  the  United   States, 
400. 


JOHN    PETER    ZENGER.  159 

which  contained  the  alleged  libels  were  printed  and 
published  by  him.  The  junior  counsel  of  the  de- 
fendant was  inclined  to  call  for  the  proof  of  these 
facts,  but  his  associate  at  once  took  the  higher  and 
more  enlarged  ground. 

Hamilton.  May  it  please  your  honor  :  I  am  con- 
cerned in  this  cause  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Zenger,  the 
defendant.  The  information  against  my  client  was 
sent  to  me,  a  few  days  before  I  left  home,  with  some 
instructions  to  let  me  know  how  far  I  might  rely  upon 
the  truth  of  those  parts  of  the  papers  set  forth  in  the 
information,  and  which  are  said  to  be  libellous.  And 
though  I  am  perfectly  of  opinion  with  the  gentleman 
who  has  just  now  spoken,  on  the  same  side  with  me, 
as  to  the  common  course  of  proceedings,  I  mean  in 
putting  Mr.  Attorney  upon  proving,  that  my  client 
printed  and  published  those  papers  mentioned  in  the 
information  ;  yet  I  cannot  think  it  proper  for  me, 
without  doing  violence  to  my  own  principles^to  deny 
the  publication  of  a  compjaint^which  I  think  it  is 
the  right  of  every  free-born  subject  to  make,  when 
the  matters  so  published  can  be  supported  with 
truth ;  and,  therefore,  I  will  save  Mr.  Attorney  the 
trouble  of  examining  his  witnesses  to  that  point ;  and 
I  do  for  my  client  confess,  that  he  both  printed  and 
published  the  two  newspapers  set  forth  in  the  infor- 
mation ;  and  I  hope  in  so  doing  he  has  committed 
no  crime. 

Attorney  General  Bradley.  Then,  if  your  honor 
pleases,  as  Mr.  Hamilton  has  confessed  the  printing 
and  publishing  these  libels,  I  think  the  jury  must 
find  a  verdict  for  the  king ;  for  supposing  they  were 


160  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

true,  the  law  says  that  they  are  not  the  less  libellous 
for  that ;  indeed,  their  being  true  is  an  aggravation 
of  the  crime. 

Hamilton.  Not  so  either,  Mr.  Attorney,  there  are 
two  words  to  that  bargain.  I  hope  it  is  not  our  bare 
printing  and  publishing  a  paper,  that  will  make  it  a 
libel :  you  will  have  something  more  to  do,  before 
you  make  my  client  a  libeller  ;  for  the  words  them- 
selves must  be  libellous,  that  is,  "  false,  scandalous, 
and  seditious,"  or  else  he  is  not  guilty. 

The  attorney  general,  then  made  an  elaborate  ar- 
gument upon  the  law  of  libel.  He  remarked  upon 
the  excellency  as  well  as  the  use  of  government,  and 
the  great  regard  and  reverence  which  had  been  con- 
stantly paid  to  it,  both  under  the  law  and  the  gospel. 
By  government,  individuals  were  protected  in  their 
lives,  religion  and  property,  and,  for  these  reasons, 
great  care  had  always  been  taken  to  prevent  every 
thing  that  might  tend  to  scandalize  magistrates  and 
others  concerned  in  the  administration  of  govern- 
ment, especially  the  supreme  magistrate.  He  men- 
tioned many  instances  of  punishments  inflicted  upon 
those  who  had  attempted  to  bring  the  government 
into  contempt  by  publishing  false  and  scurrilous 
libels  against  it,  or  by  speaking  evil  and  scandalous 
words  of  men  in  authority,  to  the  great  disturbance 
of  the  public  peace.  A  libel,  he  insisted,  was  a  mali- 
/7cious  defamation  of  any  person,  expressed  either  in 
printing  or  writing,  signs  or  pictures,  to  asperse  the 
reputation  of  one  that  was  alive,  or  the  memory  of 
one  that  was  dead.  If  he  was  a  private  man,  the 
libeller  deserved  a  severe  punishment,  but  if  it  was 


JOHN    PETER    ZENGER.  161 

against  a  magistrate  or  other  public  person,  it  was  a 
greater  offence  ;  as  this  concerned  not  only  the  breach 
of  the  peace,  but  the  scandal  of  the  government ;  for 
what  greater  scandal  of  the  government  could  there 
be,  than  to  have  corrupt  or  wicked  magistrates  to  be 
appointed  by  the  king,  to  govern  his  subjects  under 
him  ?  And  a  greater  imputation  to  the  state  cannot 
be,  than  to  surfer  such  corrupt  men  to  sit  in  the 
sacred  seat  of  justice,  or  to  have  any  concern  in  the 
administration  of  justice:  and  he  insisted,  that  whether 
the  person  defamed  was  a  private  man  or  a  magis- 
trate, whether  living  or  dead,  whether  the  libel  was 
true  or  false,  or  if  the  party  against  whom  it  was 
made  was  of  good  or  evil  fame,  it  was  nevertheless 
a  libel ;  for  in  a  settled  state  of  government,  the  party 
aggrieved  ought  to  complain  for  every  injury  done 
him,  in  the  ordinary  course  of  the  law.  As  to  its 
publication,  the  law  had  taken  so  great  care  of  men's 
reputations,  that  if  one  maliciously  repeated,  or  sign- 
ed it,  in  the  presence  of  another,  or  delivered  the  libel 
or  a  copy  of  it  over,  to  scandalize  the  party,  he  was 
to  be  punished  as  the  publisher  of  a  libel.  He  said 
it  was  likewise  evident,  that  libelling  was  an  offence 
against  the  law  of  God.  "  Then  said  Paul,  I  wist 
not,  brethren,  that  he  was  the  high  priest ;  for  it 
is  written,  thou  shalt  not  speak  evil  of  the  ruler 
of  thy  people."  Acts  xxiii.  5.  "  Presumptuous  are 
they,  self-willed,  they  are  not  afraid  to  speak  evil 
of  dignities."  2  Pet.  ii.  10.  He  then  insisted,  that 
it  was  clear,  both  by  the  law  of  God  and  man, 
that  it  was  a  very  great  offence  to  speak  evil  of, 
or  to  revile,  those  in  authority  over  us ;  and  that 

14* 


162  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

Mr.  Zenger  had  offended  in  a  most  notorious  and 
gross  manner,  in  scandalizing  his  excellency  the  gov- 
ernor, who  was  the  king's  immediate  representative, 
and  the  supreme  magistrate  of  the  province.  He 
acknowledged,  that  the  governor  and  the  chief  per- 
sons in  the  government  had  directed  this  prosecu- 
tion, to  put  a  stop  to  this  scandalous  and  wicked 
practice  of  libelling  and  defaming  his  majesty's  gov- 
ernment and  disturbing  his  majesty's  peace. 

Hamilton.  May  it  please  your  honor:  I  agree 
with  Mr.  Attorney,  that  government  is  a  sacred  thing ; 
but  I  differ  very  widely  from  him  when  he  would 
insinuate,  that  the  just  complaints  of  a  number  of 
men,  who  suffer  under  a  bad  administration,  is  libel- 
ling that  administration.  Had  I  believed  that  to  be 
law,  I  should  not  have  given  the  court  the  trouble  of 
hearing  any  thing  I  could  say  in  this  cause.  I  own, 
when  I  read  the  information,  I  had  not  the  art  to 
find  out,  without  the  help  of  Mr.  Attorney's  inuen- 
dos,  that  the  governor  was  the  person  meant  in  every 
period  of  that  newspaper.  I  was  inclined  to  believe, 
that  they  were  written  by  some,  who,  from  an  extra- 
ordinary zeal  for  liberty,  had  misconstrued  the  con- 
duct of  some  persons  in  authority  into  crimes ;  and 
that  Mr.  Attorney,  from  his  too  great  zeal  for  power, 
had  exhibited  this  information,  to  correct  the  indis- 
cretion of  my  client ;  and,  at  the  same  time,  to  show 
his  superiors  the  great  concern  he  had,  lest  they 
should  be  treated  with  any  undue  freedom.  But 
from  what  Mr.  Attorney  has  just  now  said,  that  this 
prosecution  was  directed  by  the  governor  and  coun- 
cil ;  and  from  the  extraordinary  appearance  of  peo- 


JOHN    PETER    ZENGER.  163 

pie  of  all  conditions,  which  I  observe  in  court  upon 
this  occasion,  I  have  reason  to  think,  that  those  in  the 
administration  have  by  this  prosecution  something 
more  in  view,  and  that  the  people  believe  they  have 
a  good  deal  more  at  stake,  than  T  apprehend :  and, 
there  fore,  as  it  has  become  my  duty,  to  be  both  plain 
and  particular  in  this  cause,  I  beg  leave  to  bespeak 
the  patience  of  the  court. 

Is  it  not  surprising  to  see  a  subject,  upon  his  re- 
ceiving a  commission  from  the  king  to  be  a  governor 
of  a  colony  in  America,  immediately  imagining  him- 
self to  be  vested  with  all  the  prem^itivcs  belonging 
to  the  sacred  person j)fjhis ij*rince  ?  and,  which  is  yet 
more  astonishing,  to  see  that  a  people  can  be  so  wild 
as  to  allow  of,  and  acknowledge,  those  prerogatives 
and  exemptions,  even  to  their  own  destruction  ?  Is 
it  so  hard  a  matter  to  distinguish  between  the  majesty 
of  our  sovereign,  and  the  power  of  a  governor  of  the 
plantations?  Is  not  this  making  very  free  with  our 
prince,  to  apply  that  regard,  obedience,  and  allegiance 
to  a  subject  which  is  due  only  to  our  sovereign  ? 
And  yet  in  all  the  cases  which  Mr.  Attorney  has 
cited,  to  show  the  duty  and  obedience  we  owe  to  the 
supreme  magistrate,  it  is  the  king  which  is  there 
meant  and  understood,  though  Mr.  Attorney  is  pleased 
to  urge  them  as  authorities  to  prove  the  heinousness 
of  Mr.  Zenger's  offence  against  the  governor  of  New 
York.  The  several  plantations  -are  compared  to  so 
many  large  corporations,  and  perhaps  not  improperly  ; 
and  can  any  one  give  an  instance,  that  the  mayor,  or 
head  of  a  corporation,  ever  put  in  a  claim  to  the 
sacred  rights  of  majesty  ?  Let  us  not,  while  we  are 


164  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

pretending  to  pay  a  great  regard  to  our  prince  and 
his  peace,  make  bold  to  transfer  that  allegiance  to  a 
subject,  which  we  owe  to  our  king  only. 

What  a  strange  doctrine  it  is,  to  press  every  thing 
for  law  here  which  is  so  in  England  !  I  believe  we 
should  not  think  it  a  favor,  at  present  at  least,  to 
establish  this  practice.  In  England  so  great  a  regard 
and  reverence  is  had  to  the  judges,  that,  if  any  man 
strike  another  in  Westminster  Hall,  while  the  judges 
are  sitting,  he  shall  lose  his  right  hand,  and  forfeit 
his  land  and  goods,  for  so  doing.  And  though  the 
judges  here  claim  all  the  powers  and  authorities 
within  this  government,  that  a  court  of  king's  bench 
has  in  England ;  yet  I  believe  Mr.  Attorney  will 
scarcely  say,  that  such  a  punishment  could  be  legally 
inflicted  on  a  man  for  committing  such  an  offence,  in 
the  presence  of  the  judges  sitting  in  any  court  within 
the  province  of  New  York.  The  reason  is  obvious  ; 
a  quarrel  or  riot  in  New  York  cannot  possibly  be 
attended  with  those  dangerous  consequences  that  it 
might  in  Westminster  Hall ;  nor  will  it  be  alleged, 
that  any  misbehavior  to  a  governor  in  the  plantations 
will,  or  ever  ought  to  be,  judged  of  or  punished,  as  a 
like  undutifulness  would  be  to  our  sovereign. 

From  all  which,  I  hope  Mr.  Attorney  will  not  think 
it  proper  to  apply  those  law  cases  to  support  the  cause 
of  his  governor,  which  have  only  been  judged  where 
the  king's  safety  or  honor  was  concerned.  It  will 
not  be  denied,  that  a  freeholder  in  the  province  of 
New  York  has  as  good  a  right  to  the  sole  and  sepa- 
rate use  of  his  lands,  as  a  freeholder  in  England,  who 
has  a, right  to  bring  an  action  of  trespass  against  his 


JOHN    PETER    ZENGER.  165 

neighbor,  for  suffering  his  horse  or  cow  to  come  and 
feed  upon  his  lands  or  eat  his  corn,  whether  inclosed 
or  not  inclosed  ;  and  yet  I  believe  it  would  be  looked 
upon  as  a  strange  attempt,  for  one  man  here  to  bring 
an  action  against  another,  whose  cattle  and  horses 
feed  upon  his  grounds  not  inclosed,  or,  indeed,  for 
eating  and  treading  down  his  corn,  if  that  were  not 
inclosed.  Numberless  are  the  instances  of  this  kind 
that  might  be  given,  to  show,  that  what  is  good  law 
at  one  time  and  in  one  place,  is  not  so  at  another 
time  and  in  another  place ;  so  that,  I  think,  the  law 
seems  to  expect,  that  in  these  parts  of  the  world 
men  should  take  care,  by  a  good  fence,  to  preserve 
their  property  from  the  injury  of  unruly  beasts  :  and 
perhaps  there  may  be  as  good  reason  why  men  should 
take  the  same  care,  to  make  an  honest  and  upright 
conduct  a  fence  and  security  against  the  injury  of 
unruly  tongues. 

Attorney  General.  I  do  not  know  what  the  gen- 
tleman means,  by  comparing  cases  of  freeholders  in 
England  with  the  freeholders  here.  What  has  this 
case  to  do  with  actions  of  trespass,  or  men's  fencing 
their  grounds  ?  The  case  before  the  court  is,  whether 
Mr.  Zenger  is  guilty  of  libelling  his  excellency  the 
governor  of  New  York,  and,  indeed,  the  whole  admin- 
istration of  the  government  ?  Mr.  Hamilton  has  con- 
fessed the  printing  and  publishing ;  and  I  think 
nothing  is  plainer,  than  that  the  words  in  the  infor- 
mation are  scandalous,  and  tend  to  sedition,  and  to 
disquiet  the  minds  of  the  people  of  this  province : 
if  such  papers  are  not  libels,  I  think  it  may  be  said, 
there  can  be  no  such  thing  as  a  libel. 


L66  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

Hamilton.  May  it  please  your  honor,  I  cannot 
agree  with  Mr.  Attorney :  for  though  I  freely  ac- 
knowledge, that  there  are  such  things  as  libels,  yet  I 
must  insist  at  the  same  time,  that  what  my  client  is 
charged  with  is  not  a  libel ;  and  I  observed  just  now, 
that  Mr.  Attorney,  in  defining  a  libel,  made  use  of 
the  words  scandalous,  seditious,  and  tend  to  disquiet 
the  people  ;  but,  whether  with  design  or  not  I  will 
not  say,  he  omitted  the  word  false. 

Attorney  General.  I  think  I  did  not  omit  the  word 
false ;  but  it  has  been  said  already,  that  it  may  be  a 
libel,  notwithstanding  it  may  be  true. 

Hamilton.  In  this  I  must  still  differ  with  Mr.  At- 
torney ;  for  I  depend  upon,  it,  we  are  to  be  tried 
upon  this  information  now  before  the  court  and  jury, 
and  to  which  we  have  pleaded  not  guilty  ;  and  by  it 
we  are  charged  with  printing  and  publishing  a  cer- 
tain "false,  malicious,  seditious  and  scandalous  libel." 
This  word  false  must  have  some  meaning,  or  else 
how  came  it  there  ?  I  hope  Mr.  Attorney  will  not 
say,  he  put  it  there  by  chance,  and  I  am  of  opinion 
his  information  would  not  be  good  without  it.  But 
to  show  that  it  is  the  principal  thing  which,  in  my 
opinion,  makes  a  libel,  I  put  the  case,  that  the  infor- 
mation had  been  for  printing  and  publishing  a  certain 
true  libel,  would  that  be  the  same  thing  ?  or  could 
Mr.  Attorney  support  such  an  information  by  any 
precedent  in  the  English  law?  No ;_ the  falsehood 
makes  the ^scandal.,  and  both  make  Ihe  libel.  And 
to  show  the  court  that  I  am  in  good  "earnest,  and  to 
save  the  court's  time,  and  Mr.  Attorney's  trouble,  I 
will  agree,  that  if  he  can  prove  the  facts  charged 


JOHN    PETER    ZENGER.  167 

upon  us,  to  be  false,  I  will  own  them  to  be  scanda- 
lous, seditious,  and  a  libel.  So  the  work  seems  now 
to  be  pretty  much  shortened,  and  Mr.  Attorney  has 
only  to  prove  the  words  false,  in  order  to  make  us 
guilty. 

Attorney  General.  We  have  nothing  to  prove ; 
you  have  confessed  the  printing  and  publishing ;  but 
if  it  was  necessary,  as  I  insist  it  is  not,  how  can  we 
prove  a  negative  ?  But  I  hope  some  regard  will  be 
had  to  the  authorities  that  have  been  produced ;  and 
that,  supposing  all  the  words  to  be  true,  yet  that  will 
not  help  them. 

Hamilton.  I  did  expect  to  hear  that  a  negative 
cannot  be  proved ;  but  every  body  knows  there  are 
many  exceptions  to  that  general  rule  :  for  if  a  man 
is  charged  with  killing  another,  or  stealing  his  neigh- 
bor's horse ;  if  he  is  innocent  in  the  one  case,  he 
may  prove  the  man,  said  to  be  killed,  to  be  really 
alive  ;  and  the  horse,  said  to  be  stolen,  never  to  have 
been  out  of  his  master's  stable,  and  this  I  think 
is  proving  a  negative.  But  we  will  save  Mr.  Attor- 
ney the  trouble  of  proving  a  negative,  and  take  the 
onus  probandi  upon  ourselves,  and  prove  those  very 
papers  that  are  called  libels  to  be  true. 

ChieJ  Justice  de  Lancey.  You  cannot  be  admit- 
ted, Mr.  Hamilton,  to  give  the  truth  of  a  libel  in  evi- 
dence ;  a  libel  is  not  to  be  justified  ;  for  it  is  never- 
theless a  libel,  that  it  is  true. 

Hamilton.  I  am  sorry  the  court  has  so  soon  re- 
solved on  that  piece  of  law ;  I  expected  first  to  have 
been  heard  to  that  point.  I  have  not,  in  all  my 
reading,  met  with  an  authority  that  says,  we  cannot 


168  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

be  admitted  to  give  the  truth  in  evidence,  upon  an 
information  for  a  libel. 

Chief  Justice.  The  law  is  clear,  that  you  cannot 
justify  a  libel. 

Hamilton.  I  own  that,  may  it  please  your  honor, 
to  be  so;  bufy  with  submission,  I  understand  the 
word  justify  there,  to  be  a  justification  by  plea,  as  it  is 
in  the  case  upon  an  indictment  for  murder,  or  an  as- 
sault and  battery;  there  the  prisoner  cannot  justify,  but 
must  plead  not  guilty  :  yet  it  will  not  be  denied  but 
he  may  be,  and  always  is,  admitted  to  give  the  truth 
of  the  fact,  or  any  other  matter,  in  evidence,  which 
goes  to  his  acquittal ;  as  in  murder  he  may  prove  it 
was  in  defence  of  his  life,  his  house,  &c. ;  and  in  as- 
sault and  battery,  he  may  give  in  evidence  that  the 
other  party  struck  first,  and  in  both  cases  he  will  be 
acquitted.  In  this  sense  I  understand  the  word  jus- 
tify, when  applied  to  the  case  before  the  court. 

Chief  Justice.  Show,  I  pray,  that  you  can  give  the 
truth  of  a  libel  in  evidence. 

Hamilton.  I  am  ready,  both  from  what  I  under- 
stand to  be  the  authorities  in  the  case,  and  from 
the  reason  of  the  thing,  to  show  that  we  may  law- 
fully do  so.  But  here  I  beg  leave  to  observe,  that  an 
information  for  libel  is  the  child,  if  not  born,  yet 
nursed  and  brought  up  to  full  maturity,  in  the  court 
of  star  chamber. 

Chief  Justice.  Mr.  Hamilton,  you  will  find  your- 
self mistaken  ;  for  in  Coke's  Institutes  you  will  find 
informations  for  libels,  long  before  the  court  of  star 
chamber. 

Mr.  Hamilton  then  went  into  a  learned  and  ex- 


JOHN    PETER    ZENGER.  169 

tended  examination  of  the  law  of  libel,  insisting  with 
great  energy  and  animation,  that  the  doctrine,  de- 
claring that  truth  makes  a  worse  libel  than  false- 
hood, was  monstrous  and  ridiculous.  He  commented 
upon  all  the  leading  English  decisions  on  the  subject, 
and  relied  particularly  on  a  case  in  which  Lord  Chief 
Justice  Holt  demanded  of  a  person  accused  as  a 
libeller :  "  Can  you  make  it  appear  they  are  true  ? 
Have  you  any  witnesses  ?  You  might  have  had 
subpoenas  for  your  witnesses  against  this  day.  If 
you  take  upon  you  to  write  such  things  as  you  are 
charged  with,  it  lies  upon  you  to  prove  them  true,  at 
your  peril.  If  you  have  any  witnesses,  I  will  hear 
them.  How  came  you  to  write  those  books  which 
are  not  true  ?  If  you  have  any  witnesses,  produce 
them.  If  you  can  offer  any  matter  to  prove  what 
you  have  wrote,  let  us  hear  it."  "  Now,  sir,"  said 
Mr.  Hamilton,  in  conclusion,  "  we  have  acknow- 
ledged the  printing  and  publishing  of  the  papers  set 
forth  in  the  information,  and  agreeably  to  the  rule 
laid  down  by  Lord  Holt,  we  are  ready  to  prove  them 
to  be  true,  at  our  peril."  The  attorney  general  re- 
plied very  briefly,  insisting  that  the  law  was  clear, 
that  a  libel  could  not  be  justified  by  proof  that  it  was 
true. 

Chief  Justice.  Mr.  Hamilton,  the  court  is  of  opin- 
ion, that  you  ought  not  to  be  permitted  to  prove  the 
facts  in  the  papers  ;  these  are  the  words  of  the  book : 
"  It  is  far  from  being  a  justification  of  a  libel,  that  the 
contents  thereof  are  true,  or  that  the  person  upon 
whom  it  is  made  had  a  bad  reputation,  since  the 
15 


170  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

greater  appearance  there  is  of  truth  in  any  malicious 
invective,  so  much  the  more  provoking  it  is." 

Hamilton.  These  are  star  chamber  cases,  and  I 
was  in  hopes  that  practice  had  been  dead  with  the 
court. 

Chief  Justice.  Mr.  Hamilton,  the  court  have  de- 
livered their  opinion,  and  we  expect  you  will  use  us 
with  good  manners  ;  you  are  not  to  be  permitted  to 
argue  against  the  opinion  of  the  court. 

Hamilton.  With  submission,  I  have  seen  the 
practice  in  very  great  courts,  and  never  heard  it 
deemed  unmannerly  to 

Chief  Justice.  After  the  court  have  declared  their 
opinion,  it  is  not  good  manners  to  insist  upon  a  point, 
in  which  you  are  overruled. 

Hamilton.  I  will  say  no  more  at  this  time  ;  the 
court,  I  see,  is  against  us  on  this  point ;  and  that,  I 
hope,  I  may  be  allowed  to  say. 

Chief  Justice.  Use  the  court  with  good  manners, 
and  you  shall  be  allowed  all  the  liberty  you  can  rea- 
sonably desire. 

Hamilton.  I  thank  your  honor.  Then,  gentle- 
men of  the  jury,  it  is  to  you  we  must  now  appeal  for 
witnesses  to  the  truth  of  the  facts  we  have  offered 
and  are  denied  the  liberty  to  prove  ;  and  let  it  not 
seem  strange,  that  I  apply  myself  to  you  in  this 
manner ;  I  am  warranted  so  to  do  both  by  law  and 
reason.  The  law  supposes  you  to  be  summoned, 
out  of  the  neighborhood  where  the  fact  is  alleged  to 
be  committed ;  and  the  reason  of  your  being  taken 
out  of  the  neighborhood  is,  because  you  are  supposed 


JOHN    PETER    ZENGER.  171 

to  have  the  best  knowledge  of  the  fact  that  is  to  be 
tried  ;  and,  were  you  to  find  a  verdict  against  my 
client,  you  must  take  upon  you  to  say,  that  the  papers 
referred  to  in  the  information,  and  which  we  acknow- 
ledge we  printed  and  published,  are  false,  scandalous, 
and  seditious ;  but  of  this  I  can  have  no  apprehen- 
sion. You  are  citizens  of  New  York  ;  you  are  really 
what  the  law  supposes  you  to  be,  honest  and  lawful 
men ;  and  the  facts  which  we  offer  to  prove  were 
not  committed  in  a  corner ;  they  are  notoriously 
known  to  be  true  ;  and  therefore  in  your  justice  lies 
our  safety.  And  as  we  are  denied  the~HBerty  of  giv- 
ing evidence,  to  prove  the  truth  of  what  we  have  pub- 
lished,  I  will  beg  leave  to  lay  it  down  as  a  standing 
rule  in  such  cases,  that  the  suppressing  of  evidence 
ought  always  to  be  taken  for  the  strongest  evidence  : 
and  I  hope  it  will  have  that  weight  with  you.  But 
since  we  are  not  admitted  to  examine  our  witnesses, 
I  will  endeavor  to  shorten  the  dispute  with  Mr.  At- 
torney, and  to  that  end,  I  desire  he  would  favor  us 
with  some  standard  definition  of  a  libel,  by  which  it 
may  be  certainly  known,  whether  a  writing  be  a  libel, 
yea  or  not. 

Attorney  General.  The  books,  I  think,  have  given 
a  very  full  definition  of  a  libel ;  they  say  it  is,  in  a 
strict  sense,  taken  for 'a  malicious  defamation,  ex- 
pressed either  in  writing  or  printing,  and  tending 
either  to  blacken  the  memory  of  one  who  is  dead,  or 
the  reputation  of  one  who  is  alive,  and  to  expose 
him  to  public  hatred,  contempt,  or  ridicule.  But  it 
is  said,  that  in  a  larger  sense  the  notion  of  a  libel 
may  be  applied  to  any  defamation  whatsoever,  ex- 


172  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

pressed  either  by  signs  or  pictures  ;  as  by  fixing  up  a 
gallows  against  a  man's  door,  or  by  painting  him  in  a 
shameful  and  ignominious  manner.  And  since  the 
chief  cause,  for  which  the  law  so  severely  punishes  all 
offences  of  this  nature,  is  the  direct  tendency  of  them 
to  a  breach  of  the  public  peace,  by  provoking  the 
parties  injured,  their  friends  and  families,  to  acts  of  re- 
venge, which  it  would  be  impossible  to  restrain  by  the 
severest  laws,  were  there  no  redress  from  public  jus- 
tice for  injuries  of  this  kind,  which  of  all  others  are 
most  sensibly  felt ;  and  since  the  plain  meaning  of 
such  scandal,  as  is  expressed  by  signs  or  pictures,  is 
as  obvious  to  common  sense,  and  as  easily  under- 
stood by  every  common  capacity,  and  altogether  as 
provoking,  as  that  which  is  expressed  by  writing  or 
printing,  why  should  it  not  be  equally  criminal  ? 
From  the  same  ground  it  seems  also  clearly  to  fol- 
low, that1'  such  scandal  as  is  expressed  in  a  scoffing 
and  ironical  manner  makes  a  writing  as  properly  a 
libel  as  that  which  is  expressed  in  direct  terms ;  as 
where  a  writing,  in  a  taunting  manner,  reckoning  up 
several  acts  of  public  charity  done  by  one,  says, 
"  You  will  not  play  the  Jew,  nor  the  hypocrite,"  and 
so  goes  on  in  a  strain  of  ridicule  to  insinuate,  that 
what  he  did  was  owing  to  his  vain  glory  ;  or  where  a 
writing,  pretending  to  recommend  to  one  the  charac- 
ters of  several  great  men  for  his  imitation,  instead  of 
taking  notice  of  what  they  are  generally  esteemed 
famous  for,  pitched  on  such  qualities  only  which  their 
enemies  charge  them  with  the  want  of,  as  by  propos- 
ing such  a  one  to  be  imitated  for  his  courage,  who  is 
known  to  be  a  great  statesman,  but  no  soldier ;  and 


JOHN    PETER    ZENGER.  173 

another  to  be  imitated  for  his  learning,  who  is  known 
to  be  a  great  general,  but  no  scholar,  &c.,  which 
kind  of  writing  is  as  well  understood  to  mean  only 
to  upbraid  the  parties  with  the  want  of  these  quali- 
ties, as  if  it  had  directly  and  expressly  done  so.1 

Hamilton.  Ay,  Mr.  Attorney  ;  but  what  certain 
standard  rule  have  the  books  laid  down,  by  which 
we  can  certainly  know,  whether  the  words  or  the 
signs  are  malicious  ?  Whether  they  are  defamatory  ? 
Whether. they  tend  to  the  breach  of  the  peace ;  and 
are  a  sufficient  ground  to  provoke  a  man,  his  family, 
or  friends,  to  acts  of  revenge,  especially  those  of  the 
ironical  sort  of  words  ?  And  what  rule  have  you  to 
know  when  I  write  ironically  ?  I  think  it  would  be 
hard,  when  I  say,  such  a  man  is  a  very  worthy, 
honest  gentleman,  and  of  fine  understanding,  that 
therefore  I  meant  he  was  a  knave  or  a  fool. 

Attorney  General.  I  think  the  books  are  very  full ; 
it  is  said,  in  the  book  just  now  read ;  "  That  such 
scandal  as  is  expressed  in  a  scoffing  and  ironical  man- 
ner, makes  a  writing  as  properly  a  libel,  as  that  which 
is  expressed  in  direct  terms ;  as  where  a  writing,  in 
a  taunting  manner,  reckoning  up  several  acts  of  cha- 
rity done  by  one,  says,  '  You  will  not  play  the  Jew 
or  the  hypocrite  ; '  and  so  goes  on  to  insinuate,  that 
what  he  did  was  owing  to  his  vain  glory,  &c.  Which 
kind  of  writing  is  as  well  understood  to  mean  only  to 
upbraid  the  parties  with  the  want  of  these  qualities, 
as  if  it  had  directly  and  expressly  done  so."  I  think 
nothing  can  be  plainer  or  more  full  than  these  words. 

1  1  Hawkins,  ch.  73,  §  1.  et  seq. 
15* 


174  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

Hamilton.  I  agree  the  words  are  very  plain,  and 
I  shall  not  scruple  to  allow  (when  we  are  agreed  that 
the  words  are  false  and  scandalous,  and  were  spoken 
in  an  ironical  and  scoffing  manner,)  that  they 
are  really  libellous ;  but  here  still  occurs  the  uncer- 
tainty, which  makes  it  difficult  to  know,  what 
words  are  scandalous,  and  what  not ;  for  you  say, 
they  may  be  scandalous,  true  or  false:  besides,  how 
shall  we  know  whether  the  words  were  spoke  in  a 
scoffing  and  ironical  manner,  or  seriously  ?  Or  how 
can  you  know,  whether  the  man  did  not  think  as  he 
wrote  ?  For,  by  your  rule,  if  he  did,  it  is  no  irony, 
and  consequently  no  libel.  But,  under  favor,  Mr. 
Attorney,  I  think  the  same  book,  and  the  same  sec- 
tion, will  show  us  the  only  rule  by  which  all  these 
things  are  to  be  known.  The  words  are  these ; 
"Which  kind  of  writing  is  as  well  understood  to 
mean  only  to  upbraid  the  parties  with  the  want  of 
these  qualities,  as  if  they  had  directly  and  expressly 
done  so."  Here  it  is  plain,  the  words  are  scanda- 
lous, scoffing,  and  ironical,  only  as  they  are  under- 
stood. I  know  no  rule  laid  down  in  the  books  but 
this :  I  mean,  as  the  words  are  understood. 

Chief  Justice.  Mr.  Hamilton,  do  you  think  it  so 
hard  to  know  when  words  are  ironical,  or  spoken  in  a 
scoffing  manner  ? 

Hamilton.  I  own  it  may  be  known  ;  but  I  insist, 
the  only  rule  to  know  is,  as  I  do  or  can  understand 
them ;  I  have  no  other  rule  to  go  by,  but  as  I  under- 
stand them. 

Chief  Justice.  That  is  certain.  All  words  are 
libellous  or  not,  as  they  are  understood.  Those  who 


JOHN    PETER    ZENGER.  175 

are  to  judge  of  the  words,  must  judge  whether  they 
are  scandalous  or  ironical,  tend  to  the  breach  of  the 
peace,  or  are  seditious :  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  it. 

Hamilton.  I  thank  your  honor  ;  I  am  glad  to  find 
the  court  of  this  opinion.  Then  it  follows  that  those 
twelve  men  must  understand  the  words  in  the  infor- 
mation to  be  scandalous,  that  is  to  say,  false ;  for  I 
think  it  is  not  pretended  that  they  are  of  the  ironical 
sort ;  and  when  they  understand  the  words  to  be  so, 
they  will  say  we  are  guilty  of  publishing  a  false  libel, 
and  not  otherwise. 

Chief  Justice.  No,  Mr.  Hamilton  ;  the  jury  may 
find  that  Zenger  printed  and  published  those  papers, 
and  leave  it  to  the  court  to  judge  whether  they  are 
libellous  ;  you  know  this  is  very  common ;  it  is  in  the 
nature  of  a  special  verdict,  where  the  jury  leave  the 
matter  of  law  to  the  court. 

Hamilton.  I  know,  may  it  please  your  honor,  the 
jury  may  do  so ;  but  I  do  likewise  know,  they  may 
do  otherwise.  I  know  they  have  the  right  beyond 
all  dispute,  to  determine  both  the  law  and  the  fact, 
and  where  they  do  not  doubt  oF  the  law,  they  ought 
to  do  so.  This  manner  of  leaving  it  to  the  judgment 
of  the  court  whether  the  words  are  libellous  or  not, 
in  effect  renders  juries  useless,  to  say  no  worse,  in 
many  cases  ;  but  this  I  shall  have  occasion  to  speak 
to  by  and  by;  and  I  "will,  with  the  court's  leave, 
proceed  to  examine  the  inconveniencies  that  must 
inevitably  arise  from  the  doctrines  Mr.  Attorney  has 
laid  down  ;  and  I  observe,  in  support  of  this  prose- 
cution, he  has  frequently  repeated  the  words  taken 
from  the  case  de  Libellis  famosis  in  the  fifth  of  Coke. 


176  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

This  is  indeed  the  leading  case,  to  which  almost 
all  the  other  cases  upon  the  subject  of  libels  re- 
fer ;  and  I  must  insist  upon  saying,  that  according  as 
this  case  seems  to  be  understood  by  the  court  and 
Mr.  Attorney,  it  is  not  law  at  this  day.  For  though 
I  own  it  to  be  base  and  unworthy,  to  scandalize  any 
man,  yet  I  think  it  is  even  villanous  to  scandalize  a 
person  of  public  character,  and  I  will  go  so  far  into 
Mr.  Attorney's  doctrine  as  to  agree,  that  if  the  faults, 
mistakes,  nay  even  the  vices  of  such  a  person  be 
private  and  personal,  and  do  not  affect  the  peace  of 
the  public,  or  the  liberty  or  property  of  our  neighbor, 
it  is  unmanly  and  unmannerly  to  expose  them  either 
by  word  or  writing.  But  when  a  ruler  of  a  people 
brings  his  personal  failings,  but  much  more  his  vices, 
into  his  administration,  and  the  people  find  them- 
selves affected  by  them,  either  in  their  liberties  or 
properties,  that  will  alter  the  case  mightily  ;  and  all 
the  high  things  that  are  said  in  favor  of  rulers,  and 
of  dignities,  and  upon  the  side  of  power,  will  not 
be  able  to  stop  people's  mouths  when  they  feel 
themselves  oppressed,  —  I  mean  in  a  free  govern- 
ment. It  is  true  in  times  past  it  was  a  crime  to 
speak  truth,  and  in  that  terrible  court  of  star  cham- 
ber, many  worthy  and  brave  men  suffered  for  so 
doing ;  and  yet  even  in  that  court,  and  in  those  bad 
times,  a  great  and  good  man  durst  say.  what  I  hope 
will  not  be  taken  amiss  of  me  to  say  in  this  place, 
that  the  practice  of  informations  for  libels  is  a  sword 
in  the  hands  of  a  wicked  king,  and  an  arrant  cow- 
ard, to  cut  down  and  destroy  the  innocent ;  the  one 
cannot,  because  of  his  high  station,  and  the  other 


JOHN    PETER    ZENGER.  177 

dares  not,  because  of  his  want  of  courage,  revenge 
himself  in  another  manner. 

Attorney  General.  Pray  Mr.  Hamilton,  have  a 
care  what  you  say,  do  not  go  too  far  either;  I  do 
not  like  those  liberties. 

Hamilton.  Sure,  Mr.  Attorney,  you  will  not  make 
any  applications  ;  all  men  agree  that  we  are  governed 
by  the  best  of  kings,  and  I  cannot  see  the  meaning 
of  Mr.  Attorney's  caution ;  my  well  known  princi- 
ples, and  the  sense  I  have  of  the  blessings  we  enjoy 
under  his  present  majesty,  make  it  impossible  for  me 
to  err,  and  I  hope,  even  to  be  suspected,  in  that 
point  of  duty  to  my  king.  May  it  please  your  honor, 
I  was  saying,  that  notwithstanding  all  the  duty  and 
reverence  claimed  by  Mr.  Attorney  to  men  in  au- 
thority, they  are  not  exempt  from  observing  the  rules 
of  common  justice,  either  in  their  private  or  public 
capacities  ;  the  laws  of  our  mother  country  know  no 
exemption.  It  is  true,  men  in  power  are  harder  to  be 
come  at  for  wrongs  they  do,  either  to  a  private  per- 
son, or  to  the  public ;  especially  a  governor  in  the 
plantations,  where  they  insist  upon  an  exemption 
from  answering  complaints  of  any  kind  in  their  own 
government.  We  are  indeed  told,  and  it  is  true,  they 
are  obliged  to  answer  a  suit  in  the  king's  courts  at 
Westminster,  for  a  wrong  done  to  any  person  here ; 
but  do  we  not  know  how  impracticable  this  is  to 
most  men  among  us,  —  to  leave  their  families,  who 
depend  upon  their  labor  and  care  for  their  livelihood, 
and  carry  evidences  to  Britain,  and  at  a  great,  nay,  a 
far  greater  expense  than  almost  any  of  us  are  able  to 
bear,  only  to  prosecute  a  governor  for  an  injury  done 


178  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

here.  But  when  the  oppression  is  general,  there  is 
no  remedy  even  that  way ;  no,  our  constitution  has, 
(blessed  be  God)  given  us  an  opportunity,  if  not  to 
have  such  wrongs  redressed,  yet  by  our  prudence 
and  resolution  to  prevent  in  a  great  measure  the 
committing  of  such  wrongs,  by  making  a  governor 
sensible  that  it  is  his  interest  to  be  just  to  those 
under  his  care ;  for  such  is  the  sense,  that  men  in 
general  (I  mean  freemen)  have  of  common  justice, 
that  when  they  come  to  know,  that  a  chief  magis- 
trate abuses  the  power,  with  which  he  is  trusted  for 
the  good  of  the  people,  and  is  attempting  to  turn 
that  very  power  against  the  innocent,  whether  of 
high  or  low  degree,  I  say,  mankind  in  general  seldom 
fail  to  interpose,  and  as  far  as  they  can,  prevent  the 
destruction  of  their  fellow  subjects.  And  has  it  not 
often  been  seen  (and  I  hope  it  will  always  be  seen) 
that  when  the  representatives  of  a  free  people  are  by 
just  representations  or  remonstrances,  made  sensible 
of  the  sufferings  of  their  fellow  subjects,  by  the  abuse 
of  power  in  the  hands  of  a  governor,  they  have  de- 
clared (and  loudly  too)  that  they  were  not  obliged 
by  any  law  to  support  a  governor  who  goes  about  to 
destroy  a  province  or  colony,  or  their  privileges, 
which  by  his  majesty  he  was  appointed,  and  by  the 
law  he  is  bound,  to  protect  and  encourage.  But  I 
pray  it  maybe  considered,  of  what  use  is  this  mighty 
privilege,  if  every  man  that  suffers  must  be  silent  ? 
And  if  a  man  must  be  taken  up  as  a  libeller,  for  tell- 
ing his  sufferings  to  his  neighbor  ?  I  know  it  may 
be  answered,  have  you  not  a  legislature  ?  Have  you 
not  a  house  of  representatives  to  whom  you  may 


JOHN    PETER    ZENGER.  179 

complain  ?  And  to  this  I  answer,  we  have.  But 
what  then  ?  Is  an  assembly  to  be  troubled  with  every 
injury  done  by  a  governor  ?  Or  are  they  to  hear  of 
nothing  but  what  those  in  the  administration  will 
please  to  tell  them  ?  Or  what  sort  of  a  trial  must  a 
man  have  ?  and  how  is  he  to  be  remedied :  espe- 
cially if  the  case  were,  as  I  have  known  it  to  happen 
in  America  in  my  time ;  that  a  governor  who  has 
places  (I  will  not  say  pensions,  for  I  believe  they 
seldom  give  that  to  another  which  they  can  take 
to  themselves)  to  bestow,  and  can  or  will  keep  the 
same  assembly,  after  he  has  modeled  them  so  as  to 
get  a  majority  of  the  house  in  his  interest,  for  near 
twice  seven  years  together?  I  pray,  what  redress  is 
to  be  expected  for  an  honest  man,  who  makes  his 
complaint  against  a  goveraor,  to  an  assembly  who 
may  properly  enough  be  said  to  be  made  by  the  same 
governor  against  whom  the  complaint  is  made  ?  The 
thing  answers  itself.  No,  it  is  natural,  it  is  a  privi- 
lege. I  will  go  farther,  it  is  a  right  which  all  freemen 
claim,  and  are  entitled  to  complain,  when  they  are 
hurt ;  they  have  a  right  publicly  to  remonstrate  against 
abuses  of  power,  in  the  strongest  terms,  to  put  their 
neighbors  upon  their  guard  against  the  craft  or  open 
violence  of  men  in  authority,  and  to  assert  with 
courage  the  sense  they  have  of  the  blessings  of  lib- 
erty, the  value  they  put  upon  it,  and  their  resolution 
at  all  hazards  to  preserve  it  as  one  of  the  greatest 
blessings  heaven  can  bestow.  And  when  a  house  of 
assembly  composed  of  honest  freemen  sees  the  gene- 
ral bent  of  the  people's  inclinations,  that  is  it,  which 
must  and  will  —  I  am  sure  it  ought  to  —  weigh  with 


180  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

a  legislature,  in  spite  of  all  the  craft,  caressing  and 
cajoling,  made  use  of  by  a  governor,  to  divert  them 
from  hearkening  to  the  voice  of  their  country. 

As  we  all  very  well  understand  the  true  reason, 
why  gentlemen  take  so  much  pains  and  make  such 
great  interest  to  be  appointed  governors,  so  is  the 
design  of  their  appointment  not  less  manifest.  We 
know  his  majesty's  gracious  intentions  to  his  subjects ; 
he  desires  no  more  than  that  his  people  in  the  plan- 
tations should  be  kept  up  to  their  duty  and  allegiance 
to  the  crown  of  Great  Britain,  that  peace  may  be 
preserved  amongst  them,  and  justice  impartially  ad- 
ministered ;  that  we  may  be  governed  so  as  to  render 
us  useful  to  our  mother  country,  by  encouraging  us 
to  make  and  raise  such  commodities  as  may  be  useful 
to  Great  Britain.  But  will  any  one  say,  that  all  or 
any  of  these  good  ends  are  to  be  effected,  by  a  gov- 
ernor's setting  his  people  together  by  the  ears,  and 
by  the  assistance  of  one  part  of  the  people  plaguing 
and  plundering  the  other  ?  The  commission  which 
governors  bear,  while  they  execute  the  powers  given 
them,  according  to  the  intent  of  the  royal  grantor, 
expressed  in  their  commissions,  requires^tnd  deserves 
very  great  reverence  and  submission  ;^ut  when  a  go- 
vernor departs  from  the  duty  enjoined  on  him  by  his 
sovereign,  and  acts  as  if  he  was  less  accountable  than 
the  royal  hand  that  gave  him  all  that  power  and 
honor  which  he  is  possessed  of;  this  sets  people  upon 
examining  and  inquiring  into  the  power,  authority, 
and  duty  of  such  a  magistrate,  and  to  compare  those 
with  his  conduct ;  and  just  as  far  as  they  find  he 
exceeds  the  bounds  of  his  authority,  or  falls  short  in 


JOHN    PETER    ZENGER.  181 

doing  impartial  justice  to  the  people  under  his  ad- 
ministration, so  far  they  very  often,  in  returja,  come 
short  in  their  duty  to  such  a  governor.  '"Tor  power 
alone  will  not  make  a  man  beloved,  and  I  have  heard 
it  observed,  that  the  man  who  was  neither  good  nor 
wise  before  his  being  made  a  governor,  never  mended 
upon  his  preferment,  but  has  been  generally  observed 
to  be  worse  :  for  men  who  are  not  endued  with  wis- 
dom and  virtue  can  only  be  kept  in  bounds  by  the 
law  ;  and  by  how  much  the  further  they  think  them- 
selves out  of  the  reach  of  the  law,  by  so  much  the 
more  wicked  and  cruel  men  are.  I  wish  there  were 
no  instances  of  the  kind  at  this  day.  And  wherever 
this  happens  to  be  the  case  of  a  governor,  unhappy 
are  the  people  under  his  administration,  and  in  the 
end  he  will  find  himself  so  too ;  for  the  people  will 
neither  love  him  nor  support  him. 

I  make  no  doubt  but  there  are  those  here,  who  are 
zealously  concerned  for  the  success  of  this  prosecu- 
tion ;  and  yet  I  hope  there  are  not  many,  and  even 
some  of  those,  I  am  persuaded  (when  they  consider 
to  what  lengths  such  prosecutions  may  be  carried, 
and  how  deeply  the  liberties  of  the  people  may  be 
affected  by  such  means,)  will  not  all  abide  by  their 
present  sentiments  ;  I  say,  not  all :  for  the  man  who 
from  an  intimacy  and  acquaintance  with  a  governor 
has  conceived  a  personal  regard  for  him,  the  man 
who  has  felt  none  of  the  strokes  of  his  power,  the 
man  who  believes  that  a  governor  has  a  regard  for 
him  and  confides  in  him,  it  is  natural  for  such  men 
to  wish  well  to  the  affairs  of  such  a  governor  ;  and  as 
they  may  be  men  of  honor  and  generosity,  they  may 
16 


182  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

and  no  doubt  will  wish  him  success,  so  far  as  the 
rights  and  privileges  of  their  fellow  citizens  are  not 
affected.  But  as  men  of  honor,  I  can  apprehend 
nothing  from  them ;  they  will  never  exceed  that 
point. 

There  are  others  that  are  under  stronger  obliga- 
tions, and  those  are  such  as  are  in  some  sort  engaged 
in  support  of  a  governor's  cause,  by  their  own  or 
their  relations'  dependence  on  his  favor,  for  some 
post  or  preferment ;  such  men  have  what  is  com- 
monly called  duty  and  gratitude,  to  influence  their 
inclinations,  and  oblige  them  to  go  his  lengths.  I 
know  men's  interests  are  very  near  to  them,  and  they 
will  do  much,  rather  than  forego  the  favor  of  a  gov- 
ernor, and  a  livelihood  at  the  same  time  ;  but  I  can 
with  very  just  grounds  hope,  even  from  those  men, 
whom  I  will  suppose  to  be  men  of  honor  and  con- 
science too,  that  when  they  see  the  liberty  of  their 
country  is  in  danger,  either  by  their  concurrence,  or 
even  by  their  silence,  they  will,  like  Englishmen, 
and  like  themselves,  freely  make  a  sacrifice  of  any 
preferment  or  favor,  rather  than  be  accessary  to  de- 
stroying the  liberties  of  their  country,  and  entailing 
slavery  upon  their  posterity. 

There  is  indeed  another  set  of  men,  of  whom  I 
have  no  hopes,  I  mean  such,  who  lay  aside  all  other 
considerations,  and  are  ready  to  join  with  power  in 
any  shapes,  and  with  any  man  or  sort  of  men,  by 
whose  means  or  interest  they  may  be  assisted  to 
gratify  their  malice  and  envy  against  those  whom 
they  have  been  pleased  to  hate ;  and  that  for  no 
other  reason,  but  because  they  are  men  of  abilities 


JOHN    PETER    ZENGER.  183 

and  integrity,  or  at  least  are  possessed  of  some  valu- 
able qualities,  far  superior  to  their  own.  But  as  envy 
is  the  sin  of  the  devil,  and  therefore  very  hard,  if  at 
all,  to  be  repented  of,  I  will  believe  there  are  but  few 
of  this  detestable  and  worthless  sort  of  men,  nor  will 
their  opinions  or  inclinations  have  any  influence  upon 
this  trial.  But  to  proceed  ;  I  beg  leave  to  insist,  that 
the  right  of  complaining  or  remonstrating  is  natural ; 
and  the  restraint  upon  this  natural  right  is  the  law 
only,  and  that  those  restraints  can  only  extend  to 
what  is  false :  for  as  it  is  truth  alone  which  can  ex- 
cuse or  justify  any  man  for  complaining  of  a  bad 
administration,  I  as  frankly  agree,  that  nothing  ought 
to  excuse  a  man  who  raises  a  false  charge  or  accusa- 
tion, even  against  a  private  person,  and  that  no  man- 
ner of  allowance  ought  to  be  made  to  him,  who  does 
so  against  a  public  magistrate.  pTruth  ought  to  go- 
vern the  whole  affair  of  libels,  ancl  yet  the  party  ac- 
cused runs  risk  enough  even  then ;  for  if  he  fails  of 
proving  every  tittle  of  what  he  has  written,  and  to 
the  satisfaction  of  the_court  and  jury  too,  he  may 
find  to  his  cost,  that  when  the  prosecution  is  set  on 
foot  by  men  in  power,  it  seldom  wants  friends  to  fa- 
vor it  J  And  from  thence,  it  is  said,  has  arisen  the 
great  diversity  of  opinions  among  judges,  about  what 
words  were  or  were  not  scandalous  or  libellous.  I 
believe  it  will  be  granted,  that  there  is  not  greater 
uncertainty  in  any  part  of  the  law,  than  about  words 
of  scandal ;  it  would  be  misspending  of  the  court's 
time  to  mention  the  cases ;  they  may  be  said  to  be 
numberless  ;  and  therefore  the  utmost  care  ought  to 
be  taken  in  following  precedents ;  and  the  times 


184  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

when  the  judgments  were  given,  which  are  quoted 
for  authorities  in  the  case  of  libels,  are  much  to  be 
regarded.  I  think  it  will  be  agreed,  that  ever  since 
the  time  of  the  star  chamber,  where  the  most  arbi- 
trary and  destructive  judgments  and  opinions  were 
given,  that  ever  an  Englishman  heard  of,  at  least  in 
his  own  country  :  I  say,  prosecutions  for  libels  since 
the  time  of  that  arbitrary  court,  and  until  the  glorious 
revolution,  have  generally  been  set  on  foot  at  the  in- 
stance of  the  crown  or  its  ministers ;  and  it  is  no 
small  reproach  to  the  law,  that  these  prosecutions 
were  too  often  and  too  much  countenanced  by  the 
judges,  who  held  their  places  at  pleasure,  (a  disagree- 
able tenure  to  any  officer,  but  a  dangerous  one  in 
the  case  of  a  judge.)  To  say  more  to  this  point 
may  not  be  proper.  And  yet  I  cannot  think  it  un- 
warrantable, to  show  the  unhappy  influence  that  a 
sovereign  has  sometimes  had,  not  only  upon  judges, 
but  even  upon  parliaments  themselves. 

It  has  already  been  shown,  how  the  judges  differed 
in  their  opinions  about  the  nature  of  a  libel,  in  the 
case  of  the  seven  bishops.  There  you  see  three 
judges  of  one  opinion,  that  is,  of  a  wrong  opinion, 
in  the  judgment  of  the  best  men  in  England,  and 
one  judge  of  a  right  opinion.  How  unhappy  might 
it  have  been  for  all  of  us  at  this  day,  if  that  jury  had 
understood  the  words  in  that  information  as  the  court 
did  ?  Or  if  they  had  left  it  to  the  court,  to  judge 
whether  the  petition  of  the  bishops  was  or  was  not  a 
libel  ?  No,  they  took  upon  them,  to  their  immortal 
honor,  to  determine  both  law  and  fact,  and  to  under- 
stand the  petition  of  the  bishops  to  be  no  libel ;  that 


JOHN    PETER    ZENGER.  185 

is,  to  contain  no  falsehood  nor  sedition,  and  there- 
fore found  them  not  guilty.  And  remarkable  is  the 
case  of  Sir  Samuel  Barnardiston,  who  was  fined  ten 
thousand  pounds  for  writing  a  letter,  in  which,  it 
may  be  said,  none  saw  any  scandal  or  falsehood  but 
the  court  and  jury  ;  for  that  judgment  was  after- 
wards looked  upon  as  a  cruel  and  detestable  judg- 
ment, and  therefore  was  reversed  by  parliament. 
Many  more  instances  might  be  given  of  the  complai- 
sance of  court  judges,  about  those  times,  and  before ; 
but  I  will  mention  only  one  case  more,  and  that  is 
the  case  of  Sir  Edward  Hales,  who  though  a  Roman 
Catholic,  was  by  king  James  II.  preferred  to  be  a 
colonel  of  his  army,  notwithstanding  the  statute  of 
25  Charles  II.,  chapter  second,  by  which  it  is  pro- 
vided, that  every  one  that  accepts  of  an  office,  civil 
or  military,  &c.,  shall  take  the  oaths,  subscribe  the 
declaration,  and  take  the  sacrament,  within  three 
months,  &c.,  otherwise  he  is  disabled  to  hold  such 
office,  and  the  grant  for  the  same  to  be  null  and  void, 
and  the  party  to  forfeit  five  hundred  pounds.  Sir 
Edward  Hales  did  not  take  the  oaths  or  sacrament, 
and  was  prosecuted  for  five  hundred  pounds,  for  exer- 
cising the  office  of  a  colonel,  by  the  space  of  three 
months,  without  conforming  as  in  the  act  is  directed. 
Sir  Edward  pleads,  that  the  king  by  his  letters  patents 
did  dispense  with  his  taking  the  oaths  and  sacraments, 
and  subscribing  the  declaration,  and  had  pardoned 
the  forfeiture  of  five  hundred  pounds.  And  whether 
the  king's  dispensation  was  good,  against  the  said 
act  of  parliament  ?  was  the  question.  I  shall  men- 
tion no  more  of  this  case,  than  to  show  how  in  the 
1C* 


186  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

reign  of  an  arbitrary  prince,  where  judges  hold  their 
seats  at  pleasure,  their  determinations  have  not  always 
been  such  as  to  make  precedents  of,  but  the  con- 
trary ;  and  so  it  happened  in  this  case,  where  it  was 
solemnly  judged,  that,  notwithstanding  this  act  of 
parliament,  made  in  the  strongest  terms,  for  pre- 
servation of  the  protestant  religion,  that  yet  the  king 
had,  by  his  royal  prerogative,  a  power  to  dispense 
with  that  law ;  and  Sir  Edward  Hales  was  acquitted 
by  the  judges  accordingly.  So  the  king's  dispensing 
power,  being  by  the  judges  set  up  above  the  act  of 
parliament,  this  law,  which  the  people  looked  upon 
as  their  chief  security  against  popery  and  arbitrary 
power,  was  by  this  judgment  rendered  altogether  in- 
effectual. But  this  judgment  is  sufficiently  exposed 
by  Sir  Edward  Atkins,1  late  one  of  the  judges  of 
the  court  of  common  pleas,  in  his  enquiry  into 
the  king's  power  of  dispensing  with  penal  statutes ; 
where  it  is  shown,  who  it  was  that  first  invented  dis- 
pensations ;  how  they  came  into  England  ;  what  ill 
use  has  been  made  of  them  there  ;  and  all  this  prin- 
cipally owing  to  the  countenance  given  them  by  the 
judges.  He  says  of  the  dispensing  power,2  the  pope 
was  the  inventor  of  it ;  our  kings  have  borrowed  it 
from  them ;  and  the  judges  have  from  time  to  time 
nursed  and  dressed  it  up,  and  given  it  countenance  ; 
and  it  is  still  upon  the  growth,  and  encroaching,  till 
it  has  almost  subverted  all  law,  and  made  the  regal 
power  absolute,  if  not  dissolute.  This  seems  not 

1  Sir  Edward  Atkins's  Enquiry  into  the  power  of  dispensing  with 
penal  statutes. 

*  Postscript  to  the  Enquiry,  p.  51. 


JOHN    PETER    ZENGER.  187 

only  to  show  how  far  judges  have  been  influenced 
by  power,  and  how  little  cases  of  this  sort,  where 
the  prerogative  has  been  in  question  in  former  reigns, 
are  to  be  relied  upon  for  law :  but  I  think  it  plainly 
shows  too,  that  a  man  may  use  a  greater  freedom 
with  the  power  of  his  sovereign  and  the  judges  in 
Great  Britain,  than  it  seems  he  may  with  the  power 
of  a  governor  in  the  plantations,  who  is  but  a  fellow 
subject.  Are  these  words  with  which  we  are  charged, 
like  these  ?  Do  Mr.  Zenger's  papers  contain  any 
such  freedoms  with  his  governor  or  his  council,  as  Sir 
Edward  Atkins  has  taken,  with  the  regal  power  and 
the  judges  in  England  ?  And  yet  I  never  heard  of 
any  information  brought  against  him  for  these  free- 
doms. 

If  then,  upon  the  whole,  there  is  so  great  an  un- 
certainty among  judges,  learned  and  great  men,  in 
matters  of  this  kind  ;  if  power  has  had  so  great  an 
influence  on  judges,  how  cautious  ought  we  to  be  in 
determining  by  their  judgments,  especially  in  the 
plantations,  and  in  the  case  of  libels  ?  There  is 
heresy  in  law,  as  well  as  in  religion,  and  both  have 
changed  very  much  ;  and  we  well  know  that  it  is  not 
two  centures  ago  that  a  man  would  have  been  burnt 
as  an  heretic,  for  owning  such  opinions  in  matters  of 
religion,  as  are  publicly  written  and  printed  at  this 
day.  They  are  fallible  men,  it  seems,  and  we  take 
liberty  not  only  to  differ  from  them  in  religious  opin- 
ions, but  to  condemn  them  and  their  opinions  too ; 
and  I  must  presume,  that  in  taking  these  freedoms  in 
thinking  and  speaking  about  matters  of  faith  or  re- 
ligion, we  are  in  the  right :  for  though  it  is  said  there 
are  very  great  liberties  of  this  kind  taken  in  New 


188  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

York,  yet  I  have  heard  of  no  information  preferred 
by  Mr.  Attorney  for  any  offences  of  this  sort.  From 
which  I  think  it  is  pretty  clear,  that  in  New  York,  a 
man  may  make  very  free  with  his  God,  but  he  must 
take  special  care  what  he  says  of  his  governor.  It  is 
agreed  upon  by  all  men,  that  this  is  a  reign  of  lib- 
erty ;  ^and  while  men  keepT  within  the  bounds  of 
truth,  I  hope  they  may  withNsafety  both  speak  and 
write  their  sentiments  of  the  conduct  of  men  in 
power ;  I  mean  of  that  part  of  their  conduct  only, 
which  affects  the  liberty  or  property  of  the  people 
under  their  administration  ;  |  were  this  to  be  denied, 
then  the  next  step  may  make  them  slaves  ;  for  what 
notions  can  be  entertained  of  slavery,  beyond  that  of 
suffering  the  greatest  injuries  and  oppressions,  with- 
out the  liberty  of  complaining  ;  or  if  they  do,  to  be 
destroyed,  body  and  estate,  for  so  doing  ? 

It  is  said  and  insisted  on  by  Mr.  Attorney,  that 
government  is  a  sacred  thing  ;  that  it  is  to  be  sup- 
ported and  reverenced  ;  it  is  government  that  pro- 
tects our  persons  and  estates  ;  that  prevents  treasons, 
murders,  robberies,  riots,  and  all  the  train  of  evils  that 
overturns  kingdoms  and  states,  and  ruins  particular 
persons  ;  and  if  those  in  the  administration,  espe- 
cially the  supreme  magistrate,  must  have  all  their 
conduct  censured  by  private  men,  government  can- 
not subsist.  -This  is  called  a  licentiousness  not  to  be 
tolerated.  It  is  said,  that  it  brings  the  rulers  of  the 
people  into  contempt,  and  their  authority  not  to  be 
regarded,  and  so  in  the  end,  the  laws  cannot  be  put 
in  execution.  These  I  say,  and  such  as  these,  are 
the  general  topics  insisted  upon  by  men  in  power, 
and  their  advocates.  But  I  wish  it  might  be  consid- 


JOHN    PETER    ZENGER.  189 

ered  at  the  same  time,  how  often  it  has  happened, 
that  the  abuse  of  power  has  been  the  primary  cause 
of  these  evils,  and  that  it  was  the  injustice  and  op- 
pression of  these  great  men,  which  has  commonly 
brought  them  into  contempt  with  the  people.  The 
craft  and  art  of  such  men  is  great,  and  who,  that  is 
the  least  acquainted  with  history  or  law  can  be  igno- 
rant of  the  specious  pretences,  which  have  often 
been  made  use  of  by  men  in  power,  to  introduce  ar- 
bitrary rule,  and  destroy  the  liberties  of  a  free  peo- 
ple. I  will  give  two  instances ;  and  as  they  are  au- 
thorities not  to  be  denied,  nor  can  be  misunderstood, 
I  presume  they  will  be  sufficient. 

The  first  is  a  statute  of  Henry  VIT.,  the  preamble 
of  which  will  prove  all,  and  more  than  I  have  al- 
leged. It  begins,  "  the  king  our  sovereign  lord  re- 
membereth  how  by  unlawful  maintenances,  giving  of 
liveries,  signs  and  tokens,  &c.,  untrue  demeanings  of 
sheriffs  in  making  of  panels,  and  other  untrue  re- 
turns, by  taking  of  money,  by  injuries,  by  great  riots 
and  unlawful  assemblies :  the  policy  and  good  rule 
of  this  realm  is  almost  subdued  ;  and  for  the  not 
punishing  these  inconveniences,  and  by  occasion  of 
the  premises,  little  or  nothing  may  be  found  by 
inquiry,  &c.,  to  the  increase  of  murders,  &c.,  and 
unsureties  of  all  men  living,  and  losses  of  their  lands 
and  goods."  '  Here  is  a  fine  and  specious  pretence 
for  introducing  the  remedy,  as  it  is  called,  which  is 
provided  by  this  act,  that  is ;  instead  of  being  law- 
fully accused  by  twenty-four  good  and  lawful  men 

1  Statute  of  3  Henry  VII.,  chap.  1. 


190  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

of  the  neighborhood,  and  afterwards  tried  by  twelve 
like  lawful  men,  here  is  a  power  given  to  the  lord 
chancellor,  lord  treasurer,  the  keeper  of  the  king's 
privy  seal,  or  two  of  them,  calling  to  them  a  bishop, 
a  temporal  lord,  and  other  great  men  mentioned  in 
the  act,  (who,  it  is  to  be  observed,  were  all  to  be 
dependants  on  the  court)  to  receive  information 
against  any  person  for  any  of  the  misbehaviors  recited 
in  that  act,  and  by  their  discretion  to  examine,  and 
to  punish  them  according  to  their  demerit. 

The  second  statute  I  proposed  to  mention,  is  a  sub- 
sequent act  of  the  same  king,  the  preamble  of  which 
has  the  like  fair  pretences  as  the  former ;  for  the 
king  calling  to  his  remembrance  the  good  laws  made 
against  the  receiving  of  liveries,  &c.,  unlawful  extor- 
tions, maintenances,  embracery,  &c.,  unlawful  games, 
&c.,  and  many  other  great  enormities,  and  offences 
committed  against  many  good  statutes,  to  the  dis- 
pleasure of  Almighty  .God,  which,  the  act  says,  could 
not,  nor  yet  can,  be  conveniently  punished  by  the 
due  order  of  the  law,  except  it  were  first  found  by 
twelve  men,  &c.,  which  for  the  causes  aforesaid,  will 
not  find  nor  yet  present  the  truth.  And  therefore 
the  same  statute  directs,  that  the  justices  of  assize, 
and  justices  of  the  peace  shall,  upon  information  for 
the  king  before  them  made,  have  full  power,  by  their 
discretion,  to  hear  and  determine  all  such  offences.1 
Here  are  two  statutes  that  are  allowed  to  have  given 
the  deepest  wound  to  the  liberties  of  the  people  of 
England,  of  any  that  I  remember  to  have  been  made, 

1  Statute  of  11  Henry  VII.,  chap.  3. 


JOHN    PETER    ZENGER.  191 

unless  it  may  be  said,  that  the  statute  made  in  the 
time  of  Henry  VIII.,  by  which  his  proclamations 
were  to  have  the  effect  of  laws,  might  in  its  conse- 
quence be  worse.  And  yet  we  see  the  plausible  pre- 
tences found  out  by  the  great  men  to  procure  these 
acts.  And  it  may  justly  be  said,  that  by  those  pre- 
tences the  people  of  England  were  cheated  or  awed 
into  the  delivering  up  their  ancient  and  sacred  rights 
of  trials  by  grand  and  petit  juries.  I  hope  to  be 
excused  for  this  expression,  seeing  my  lord  Coke  calls 
it  an  unjust  and  strange  act,  that  tended  in  its  exe- 
cution to  the  great  displeasure  of  Almighty  God, 
and  the  utter  subversion  of  the  common  law. 

These,  I  think,  make  out  what  I  alleged,  and  are 
flagrant  instances  of  the  influence  of  men  in  power, 
even  upon  the  representatives  of  a  whole  kingdom. 
From  all  which  I  hope  it  will  be  agreed,  that  it  is  a 
duty  which  all  good  men  owe  to  their  country,  to 
guard  against  the  unhappy  influence  of  ill  men  when 
intrusted  with  power,  and  especially  against  their 
creatures  and  dependants,  who,  as  they  are  generally 
more  necessitous,  are  surely  more  covetous  and  cruel. 
But  it  is  worthy  of  observation,  that  though  the  spirit 
of  liberty  was  borne  down  and  oppressed  in  England 
at  that  time,  yet  it  was  not  lost ;  for  the  parliament 
laid  hold  of  the  first  opportunity  to  free  the  subjects 
from  the  many  insufferable  oppressions  and  outrages 
committed  upon  their  persons  and  estates  by  color  of 
these  acts,  the  last  of  which  being  deemed  the  most 
grievous,  was  repealed  in  the  first  year  of  Henry  VIII. 
Though  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  Henry  VII.  and  his 
creatures  reaped  such  great  advantages  by  the  griev- 


192  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

ous  oppressions  and  exactions,  grinding  the  faces  of 
the  poor  subjects,  as  my  lord  Coke  says,  by  color  of 
this  statute  by  information  only,  that  a  repeal  of  this 
act  could  never  be  obtained  during  the  life  of  that 
prince.  The  other  statute,  being  the  favorite  law  for 
supporting  arbitrary  power,  was  continued  much 
longer.  The  execution  of  it  was  by  the  great  men 
of  the  realm  ;  and  how  they  executed  it,  the  sense  of 
the  kingdom,  expressed  in  the  statute  of  the  17th  of 
Charles  I.  (by  which  the  court  of  star  chamber,  .the 
soil  where  informations  grew  rankest  was  abolished,) 
will  best  declare.  In  that  statute,  Magna  Charta, 
and  the  other  statutes  made  in  the  time  of  Edward 
III.,  which,  I  think,  are  no  less  than  five,  are  particu- 
larly enumerated  as  acts,  by  which  the  liberties  and 
privileges  of  the  people  of  England  were  secured  to 
them,  against  such  oppressive  courts  as  the  star  cham- 
ber and  others  of  the  like  jurisdiction.  And  the  rea- 
son assigned  for  their  pulling  down  the  star  chamber 
is,  "  that  the  proceedings,  censures  and  decrees  of 
the  court  of  star  chamber,  even  though  the  great 
men  of  the  realm,  nay,  and  a  bishop  too  (holy  man) 
were  judges,  had  by  experience  been  found  to  be  an 
intolerable  burthen  to  the  subject,  and  the  means  to 
introduce  an  arbitrary  power  and  government."  And 
therefore,  that  court  was  taken  away,  with  all  the 
other  courts  in  that  statute  mentioned,  having  like 
jurisdiction. 

I  do  not  mention  this  statute,  as  if,  by  the  taking 
away  the  court  of  star  chamber,  the  remedy  for  many 
of  the  abuses  or  offences  censured  there  was  like- 
wise taken  away ;  no,  I  only  intend  by  it  to  show, 


JOHN    PETER    ZENGER.  193 

that  the  people  of  England  saw  clearly  the  danger  of 
trusting  their  liberties  and  properties  to  be  tried, 
even  by  the  greatest  men  in  the  kingdom,  without 
the  judgment  of  a  jury  of  their  equals.  They  had 
felt  the  terrible  effects  of  leaving  it  to  the  judgment 
of  these  great  men  to  say  what  was  scandalous  and 
seditious,  false  or  ironical.  And  if  the  parliament  of 
England  thought  this  power  of  judging  was  too  great 
to  be  trusted  with  men  of  the  first  rank  in  the  king- 
dom, without  the  aid  of  a  jury,  how  sacred  soever 
their  characters  might  be,  and  therefore  restored  to 
the  people  their  original  right  of  trial  by  juries,  I 
hope  to  be  excused  for  insisting,  that  by  the  judg- 
ment of  a  parliament,  from  whence  no  appeal  lies, 
the  jury  are  the  proper  judges  of  what  is  false,  at 
least,  if  not  of  what  is  scandalous  and  seditious. 
This  is  an  authority  not  to  be  denied  ;  it  is  as  plain 
as  it  is  great ;  and,  to  say  that  this  act  indeed  did 
restore  to  the  people  trial  by  juries,  which  was  not 
the  practice  of  the  star  chamber,  but  that  it  did  not  give 
the  jurors  any  new  authority,  or  any  right  to  try  mat- 
ters of  law,  I  say  this  objection  will  not  avail ;  for  I 
must  insist,  that  where  matter  of  law  is  complicated 
with  matter  of  fact,  the  jury  have  a  right  to  deter- 
mine both.  As  for  instance,  upon  indictment  for 
murder,  the  jury  may,  and  almost  constantly  do,  take 
upon  them  to  judge  whether  the  evidence  will  amount 
to  murder  or  manslaughter,  and  find  accordingly ; 
and  I  must  say  I  cannot  see,  why  in  our  case  the 
jury  have  not  at  least  as  good  a  right  to  say,  whether 
our  newspapers  are  a  libel  or  no  libel,  as  another  jury 
17 


194  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

has  to  say,  whether  killing  of  a  man  is  murder  or 
manslaughter. 

The  right  of  the  jury,  to  find  such  a  verdict  as 
they  in  their  conscience  do  think  is  agreeable  to  their 
evidence,  is  supported  by  the  authority  of  Bushel's 
case,  Vaughan's  Reports,  p.  135,  beyond  any  doubt. 
For,  in  the  argument  of  that  case,  the  chief  justice, 
who  delivered  the  opinion  of  the  court,  lays  it  down 
for  law,1  "  That  in  all  general  issues,  as  upon  non  cul. 
in  trespass,  non  tort,  mil  disseisin  in  assize,  &c.,  though 
it  is  matter  of  law,  whether  the  defendant  is  a  tres- 
passer, a  disseiser,  &c.,  in  the  particular  cases  in  issue, 
yet  the  jury  find  not  (as  in  a  special  verdict)  the  fact 
of  every  case,  leaving  the  law  to  the  court ;  but  find 
for  the  plaintiff  or  defendant  upon  the  issue  to  be 
tried,  wherein  they  resolve  both  law  and  fact  com- 
plicately."  It  appears  by  the  same  case,  that  though 
the  discreet  and  lawful  assistance  of  the  judge,  by 
way  of  advice  to  the  jury,  may  be  useful ;  yet  that 
advice  or  direction  ought  always  to  be  upon  supposi- 
tion, and  not  positive,  and  upon  coercion.  The  rea- 
son given  in  the  same  book  is,  "  because  the  judge  as 
judge  cannot  know  what  the  evidence  is  which  the 
jury  have ;  that  is,  he  can  only  know  the  evidence 
given  in  court ;  but  the  evidence  which  the  jury  have, 
may  be  of  their  own  knowledge,  as  they  are  returned 
of  the  neighborhood.  They  may  also  know  from 
their  own  knowledge,  that  what  is  sworn  in  court  is 
not  true ;  and  they  may  know  the  witnesses  to  be 

1  Vaughan's  Reports,  150. 


JOHN    PETER    ZENGER.  195 

stigmatized,  to  which  the  court  may  be  strangers." 
But  what  speaks  most  to  my  purpose,  is,  that  suppose 
the  court  did  really  know  all  the  evidence  the  jury 
know,  yet  in  that  case  it  is  agreed,  "  that  the  judge 
and  jury  may  differ  in  the  result  of  their  evidence  as 
well  as  two  judges  may,"  which  often  happens. 
And  the  judge  subjoins  the  reason,  why  it  is  no  crime 
for  a  jury  to  differ  in  opinion  from  the  court,  where 
he  says,  "  That  a  man  cannot  see  with  another's  eye, 
nor  hear  by  another's  ear  ;  no  more  can  a  man  con- 
clude or  infer  the  thing  by  another's  understanding 
or  reasoning."  From  all  which  I  insist  it  is  very 
plain,  "  that  the  jury  are  by  law  at  liberty  (without 
any  affront  to  the  judgment  of  the  court)  to  find  both 
the  law  and  the  fact,  in  our  case,"  as  they  did  in  the 
case  I  am  speaking  to,  which  I  will  beg  leave  just  to 
mention,  and  it  was  this.  Mr.  Penn  and  Mead  be- 
ing Quakers,  and  having  met  in  a  peaceable  manner, 
after  being  shut  out  of  their  meetinghouse,  preached 
in  Grace-church  street,  in  London,  to  the  people  of 
their  own  persuasion,  and  for  this  they  were  indicted  ; 
and  it  was  said,  "  that  they  with  other  persons,  to 
the  number  of  three  hundred,  unlawfully  and  tumult- 
uously  assembled,  to  the  disturbance  of  the  peace," 
&c.  To  which  they  pleaded,  not  guilty.  And 
the  petit  jury  being  sworn  to  try  the  issue  between 
the  king  and  the  prisoners,  that  is,  whether  they 
were  guilty,  according  to  the  form  of  the  indictment ; 
here  there  was  no  dispute  but  they  were  assembled 
together,  to  the  number  mentioned  in  the  indictment ; 
but,  "  whether  that  meeting  together  was  riotously, 
tumultuously,  and  to  the  disturbance  of  the  peace, 


196  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

was  the  question."  And  the  court  told  the  jury  it 
was,  and  ordered  the  jury  to  find  it  so :  "  For,"  said 
the  court,  "  the  meeting  was  the  matter  of  fact,  and 
that  is  confessed,  and  we  tell  you  it  is  unlawful,  for 
it  is  against  the  statute  ;  and  the  meeting  being  un- 
lawful, it  follows  of  course  that  it  was  tumultuous, 
and  to  the  disturbance  of  the  peace."  But  the  jury 
did  not  think  fit  to  take  the  court's  word  for  it ;  for 
they  could  neither  find  riot,  tumult,  or  any  thing 
tending  to  the  breach  of  the  peace,  committed  at 
that  meeting ;  and  they  acquitted  Mr.  Penn  and 
Mead.  In  doing  of  which  they  took  upon  them  to 
judge  both  the  law  and  the  fact ;  at  which  the  court 
(being  themselves  true  courtiers)  were  so  much 
offended,  that  they  fined  the  jury  forty  marks  apiece, 
and  committed  them  till  paid.  But  Mr.  Bushel,  who 
valued  the  right  of  a  juryman  and  the  liberty  of  his 
country  more  than  his  own,  refused  to  pay  the  fine ; 
and  was  resolved  (though  at  a  great  expense  and 
trouble  too)  to  bring,  and  did  bring,  his  habeas  cor- 
pus, to  be  relieved  from  his  fine  and  imprisonment, 
and  he  was  released  accordingly  ;  and  this  being  the 
judgment  in  his  case,fjt  is  established  for  law,  "  that 
the  judges,  how  great  soever  they  be,  have  no  right 
to  fine,  imprison,  or  punish  a  jury,  for  not  finding  a 
verdict  according  to  the  direction  of  the  court.'J/ 
CAnd  this  I  hope  is  sufficient  to  prove,  that  jurymen 
are  to  see  with  their  own  eyes,  to  hear  with  their 
own  ears,  and  to  make  use  of  their  own  consciences 
and  understandings,  in  judging  of  the  lives,  liberties 
or  estates  of  their  fellow-subjects.  And  so  I  have 
done  with  this  point.  ~? 


JOHN    PETER    ZENGER.  197 

This  is  the  second  information  for  libelling  of  a 
governor  that  I  have  known  in  America;  and  the 
first,  though  it  may  look  like  a  romance,  yet,  as  it 
is  true,  I  will  beg  leave  to  mention  it.  Governor 
Nicholson,  who  happened  to  be  offended  with  one  of 
his  clergy,  met  him  one  day  upon  the  road,  and,  as 
was  usual  with  him,  under  the  protection  of  his  com- 
mission, used  the  parson  with  the  worst  of  language, 
threatened  to  cut  off  his  ears,  slit  his  nose,  and  at 
last  to  shoot  him  through  the  head.  The  parson, 
being  a  reverend  man,  continued  all  this  time  un- 
covered in  the  heat  of  the  sun,  until  he  found  an 
opportunity  to  fly  for  it ;  and  coming  to  a  neighbor's 
house,  felt  himself  very  ill  of  a  fever,  and  imme- 
diately writes  for  a  doctor  ;  and,  that  his  physician 
might  be  the  better  judge  of  his  distemper,  he  ac- 
quainted him  with  the  usage  he  had  received ;  con- 
cluding, that  the  governor  was  certainly  mad,  for 
that  no  man  in  his  senses  would  have  behaved  in 
that  manner.  The  doctor  unhappily  shows  the  par- 
son's letter ;  the  governor  came  to  hear  of  it ;  and  so 
an  information  was  preferred  against  the  poor  man, 
for  saying  he  believed  the  governor  was  mad ;  and  it 
was  laid  in  the  information  to  be  false,  scandalous 
and  wicked,  and  wrote  with  intent  to  move  sedition 
among  the  people,  and  bring  his  excellency  into  con- 
tempt. But,  by  an  order  from  the  late  queen  Anne, 
there  was  a  stop  put  to  that  prosecution,  with  sundry 
others,  set  on  foot  by  the  same  governor,  against  gen- 
tlemen of  the  greatest  worth  and  honor  in  that  gov- 
ernment. 
I  And  may  I  not  be  allowed,  after  all  this,  to  say, 

17* 


198  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

that  by  a  little  countenance,  almost  any  thing  which 
a  man  writes,  may,  with  the  help  of  that  useful  term 
of  art  called  an  innuendo,  be  construed  to  be  a  libel, 
according  to  Mr.  Attorney's  definition  of  it;  that 
whether  the  words  are  spoke  of  a  person  of  a  public 
character,  or  of  a  private  man,  whether  dead  or  liv- 
ing, good  or  bad,  true  or  false,  all  make  a  libel ;  for, 
according  to  Mr.  Attorney,  after  a  man  hears  a 
writing  read,  or  reads  and  repeats  it,  or  laughs  at  it, 
they  are  all  punishable.  /It  is  true,  Mr.  Attorney  is 
so  good  as  to  allow,  after  the  party  knows  it  to  be 
a  libel ;  but  he  is  not  so  kind  as  to  take  the  man's 
word  for  itiT 

If  a  libel  is  understood  in  the  large  and  unlimited 
sense  urged  by  Mr.  Attorney,  there  is  scarce  a  writing 
I  know  that  may  not  be  called  a  libel,  or  scarce  any 
person  safe  from  being  called  to  an  account  as  a 
libeller  jj  for  Moses,  meek  as  he  was,  libelled  Cain ; 
and  who  is  it  that  has  not  libelled  the  devil  ?  For, 
according  to  Mr.  Attorney,  it  is  no  justification  to 
say  one  has  a  bad  name.  Echard  has  libelled  our 
good  king  William.  Burnet  has  libelled,  among 
many  others,  king  Charles  and  king  James,  and  Ra- 
pin  has  libelled  them  all.  How  must  a  man  speak  or 
write,  or  what  must  he  hear,  read  or  sing,  or  when 
must  he  laugh,  so^as  to  be  secure  from  being  taken 
up  as  a  libeller  ?  [_I  sincerely  believe,  that  were  some 
persons  to  go  through  the  streets  of  New  York  now- 
a-days,  and  read  a  part  of  the  Bible,  if  it  was  not 
known  to  be  such,  Mr.  Attorney,  with  the  help  of 
hig  innuendoes,  would  easily  turn  it  into  a  libel.  \As, 
for  instance,  the  sixteenth  verse  of  the  ninth  chapter 


JOHN    PETER    ZENGER.  199 

of  Isaiah,  "  The  leaders  of  the  people  cause  them 
to  err,  and  they  that  are  led  by  them  are  destroyed." 
But  should  Mr.  Attorney  go  about  to  make  this  a 
libel,  he  would  read  it  thus  :  "  The  leaders  of  the 
people  (innuendo,  the  governor  and  council  of  New 
York)  cause  them  (innuendo,  the  people  of  this  pro- 
vince) to  err,  and  they  (the  people  of  this  province 
meaning)  are  destroyed  (innuendo,  are  deceived  into 
the  loss  of  their  liberty)  which  is  the1  worst  kind  of 
destruction.  Or  if  some  person  should  publicly  re- 
peat, in  a  manner  not  pleasing  to  his  betters,  the 
tenth  and  eleventh  verses  of  the  fifty-fifth  chapter  of 
the  same  book,  there  Mr.  Attorney  would  have  a 
large  field  to  display  his  skill,  in  the  artful  applica- 
tion of  his  innuendoes.  The  words  are,  "  His  watch- 
men are  all  blind,  they  are  ignorant ;  yea,  they  are 
greedy  dogs,  that  can  never  have  enough."  But 
to  make  them  a  libel,  there  is,  according  to  Mr.  At- 
torney's doctrine,  no  more  wanting  but  the  aid  of 
his  skill  in  the  right  adapting  his  innuendoes.  As, 
for  instance,  "  His  watchmen  (innuendo,  the  govern- 
or's council  and  assembly)  are  blind,  they  are  igno- 
rant (innuendo,  will  not  see  the  dangerous  designs  of 
his  excellency  ;)  Yea,  they  (the  governor  and  coun- 
cil meaning)  are  greedy  dogs,  which  can  never  have 
enough  (innuendo,  enough  of  riches  and  power). 
/_Such  an  instance  as  this  seems  only  fit  to  be 
laughed  at ;  but  I  may  appeal  to  Mr.  Attorney  him- 
self, whether  these  are  not  at  least  equally  proper  to 
be  applied  to  his  excellency  and  his  ministers,  as 
some  of  the  inferences  and  inuendoes  in  his  informa- 
tion against  my  client.  Then  if  Mr.  Attorney  is  at 


200  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

liberty  to  come  into  court,  and  file  an  information  in 
the  king's  name,  without  leave,  who  is  secure,  whom 
he  is  pleased  to  prosecute  as  a  libeller  YJ  And  as  the 
crown  law  is  contended  for  in  bad  times,  there  is  no 
remedy  for  the  greatest  oppression  of  this  sort,  even 
though  the  party  prosecuted  is  acquitted  with  honor. 
And  give  me  leave  to  say,  as  great  men  as  any  in 
Britain  have  boldly  asserted,  that  the  mode  of  pros- 
ecuting by  information,  when  a  grand  jury  will  not 
find  a  bill  of  indictment,  is  a  national  grievance,  and 
greatly  inconsistent  with  that  freedom,  which  the 
subjects  of  England  enjoy  in  most  other  cases.  But 
if  we  are  so  unhappy  as  not  to  be  able  to  ward  off 
this  stroke  of  power  directly,  yet  let  us  take  care  not 
to  be  cheated  out  of  our  liberties,  by  forms  and  ap- 
pearances ;  let  us  always  be  sure  that  the  charge  in 
the  information  is  made  out  clearly,  even  beyond  a 
doubt ;  for  though  matters  in  the  information  may  be 
called  form,  upon  trial,  yet  they  may  be,  and  often 
have  been  found  to  be  matters  of  substance  upon 
giving  judgment. 

/  Gentlemen,  the  danger  is  great,  in  proportion  to 
the  mischief  that  may  happen,  through  our  too  great 
credulity.  A  proper  confidence  in  a  court  is  com- 
mendable ;  but  as  the  verdict  (whatever  it  is)  will  be 
jfllirs,  you  ought  to  refer  no  part  of  your  duty  to  the 
discretion  of  other  persons.  ;  If  you  should  be  of 
opinion,  that  there  is  no  falsehood  in  Mr.  Zenger's 
papers,  you  will,  nay  (pardon  me  for  the  expression) 
you  ought  to  say  so;  because  you  do  not  know 
whether  others  (I  mean  the  court)  may  be  of  that 
opinion.  ~~^t  is  your  right  to  do  so,  and  there  is  much 


JOHN    PETER    ZENGER.  201 

depending  upon  your  resolution,  as  well  as  upon  your 
integrity.J 

The  loss  of  liberty,  to  a  generous  mind,  is  worse 
than  death  ;  and  yet  we  know  there  have  been  those 
in  all  ages,  who  for  the  sake  of  preferment,  or  some 
imaginary  honor,  have  freely  lent  a  helping  hand  to 
oppress,  nay  to  destroy  their  country.  This  brings 
to  my  mind  that  saying  of  the  immortal  Brutus,  when 
he  looked  upon  the  creatures  of  Caesar,  who  were 
very  great  men,  but  by  no  means  good  men.  "  You 
Romans,"  said  Brutus,  "  if  yet  I  may  call  you  so, 
consider  what  you  are  doing ;  remember  that  you  are 
assisting  Caesar  to  forge  those  very  chains,  which  one 
day  he  will  make  yourselves  wear."  This  is  what 
every  man,  that  values  freedom,  ought  to  consider : 
he  should  act  by  judgment,  and  not  by  affection  or 
self-interest ;  for,  where  these  prevail,  no  ties  of  either 
country  or  kindred  are  regarded  ;  as,  upon  the  other 
hand,  the  man  who  loves  his  country  prefers  its  lib- 
erty to  all  other  considerations,  well  knowing  that 
without  liberty,  life  is  a  misery. 

A  famous  instance  of  this  you  will  find  in  the  his- 
tory of  another  brave  Roman  of  the  same  name,  I 
mean  Lucius  Junius  Brutus,  whose  story  is  well 
known,  and  therefore  I  shall  mention  no  more  of  it, 
than  only  to  show  the  value  he  put  upon  the  freedom 
of  his  country.  After  this  great  man,  with  his  fel- 
low citizens  whom  he  had  engaged  in  the  cause,  had 
banished  Tarquin  the  proud,  the  last  king  of  Rome, 
from  a  throne  which  he  ascended  by  inhuman  mur- 
ders, and  possessed  by  the  most  dreadful  tyranny 
and  proscriptions  ;  and  had  by  this  means  amassed 


202  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

incredible  riches,  even  sufficient  to  bribe  to  his  inte- 
rest, many  of  the  young  nobility  of  Rome,  to  assist 
him  in  recovering  the  cr'own  ;  but  the  plot  being  dis- 
covered, the  principal  conspirators  were  apprehended, 
among  whom  were  two  of  the  sons  of  Junius  Brutus. 
It  was  absolutely  necessary  that  some  should  be 
made  examples  of,  to  deter  others  from  attempting 
the  restoring  of  Tarquin  and  destroying  the  liberty 
of  Rome.  And  to  effect  this  it  was,  that  Lucius 
Junius  Brutus,  one  of  the  consuls  of  Rome,  in  the 
presence  of  the  Roman  people,  sat  as  judge  and  con- 
demned his  own  sons,  as  traitors  to  their  country  : 
and,  to  give  the  last  proof  of  his  exalted  virtue,  and 
his  love  of  liberty,  he  with  a  firmness  of  mind, 
(only  becoming  so  great  a  man)  caused  their  heads 
to  be  struck  off  in  his  own  presence ;  and  when  he 
observed,  that  his  rigid  virtue  occasioned  a  sort  of 
horror  among  the  people,  it  is  observed  he  only  said, 
"  My  fellow  citizens,  do  not  think  that  this  proceeds 
from  any  want  of  natural  affection :  no,  the  death  of 
the  sons  of  Brutus  can  affect  Brutus  only ;  but  the 
loss  of  liberty  will  affect  my  country."  Thus  highly 
was  liberty  esteemed  in  those  days,  —  that  a  father 
could  sacrifice  his  sons  to  save  his  country !  But 
why  do  I  go  to  heathen  Rome  to  bring  instances  of 
the  love  of  liberty  ;  the  best  blood  in  Britain  has 
been  shed  in  the  cause  of  liberty ;  and  the  freedom 
we  enjoy  at  this  day  may  be  said  to  be  (in  a  great 
measure)  owing  to  the  glorious  stand  the  famous 
Hamden,  and  other  of  our  countrymen,  made,  against 
the  arbitrary  demands  and  illegal  impositions  of  the 
times  in  which  they  lived  ;  who,  rather  than  give  up 


JOHN    PETER    ZENGER.  203 

the  rights  of  Englishmen,  and  submit  to  pay  an  ille- 
gal tax,  of  no  more,  I  think,  than  three  shillings,  re- 
solved to  undergo,  —  and  for  the  liberty  of  their 
country  did  undergo,  the  greatest  extremities  in  that 
arbitrary  and  terrible  court  of  star  chamber,  to  whose 
arbitrary  proceedings,  (it  being  composed  of  the 
principal  men  of  the  realm,  and  calculated  to  sup- 
port arbitrary  government)  no  bounds  or  limits  could 
be  set ;  nor  could  any  other  hand  remove  the  evil, 
but  a  parliament. 

Power  may  justly  be  compared  to  a  great  river, 
which,  while  kept  within  its  due  bounds,  is  both 
beautiful  and  useful ;  but  when  it  overflows  its  banks, 
it  is  then  too  impetuous  to  be  stemmed,  it  bears  down 
all  before  it,  and  brings  destruction  and  desolation 
wherever  it  comes.  If  then  this  is  the  nature  of 
power,  let  us  at  least  do  our  duty,  and  like  wise  men 
(who  value  freedom)  use  our  utmost  care  to  support 
liberty,  the  only  bulwark  against  lawless  power, 
which  in  all  ages  has  sacrificed  to  its  wild  lust  and 
boundless  ambition,  the  blood  of  the  best  men  that 
ever  lived. 

/I  hope  to  be  pardoned,  sir,  for  my  zeal  upon  this 
occasion  ;  it  is  an  old  and  wise  caution,  that  when 
our  neighbor's  house  is  on  fire,  we  ought  to  take  care 
of  our  own.  For,  though,  blessed  be  God,  I  live  in 
a  government  where  liberty  is  well  understood,  and 
freely  enjoyed  :  yet  experience  has  shown  us  all  (I 
am  sure  it  has  to  me)  that  a  bad  precedent  in  one  go- 
verment  is  soon  set  up  for  an  authority  in  another  ; 
and  therefore  I  cannot  but  think  it  mine,  and  every 
honest  man's  duty,  that  (while  we  pay  all  due  obedi- 


204  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

ence  to  men  in  authority)  we  ought  at  the  same  time 
to  be  upon  our  guard  against  power,  wherever  we 
apprehend  that  it  may  affect  ourselves  or  our  fellow 
subjects. 

Lj.  am  truly  very  unequal  to  such  an  undertaking 
on  many  accounts.  And  you  see  I  labor  under  the 
weight  of  many  years,  and  am  borne  down  with 
great  infirmities  of  body  ;  yet,  old  and  weak  as  T  am, 
I  should  think  it  my  duty  if  required,  to  go  to  the 
utmost  part  of  the  land,  where  my  service  could  be 
of  any  use  in  assisting  to  quench  the  flame  of  prose- 
cutions upon  informations,  set  on  foot  by  the  govern- 
ment, to  deprive  a  people  of  the  right  of  remon- 
strating, (and  complaining  too)  of  the  arbitrary 
attempts  of  men  in  power.  Men  who  injure  and 
oppress  the  people  under  their  administration  provoke 
them  to  cry  out  and  complain  ;  and  then  make  that 
very  complaint  the  foundation  for  new  oppressions 
and  prosecutions.  I  wish  I  could  say  there  were  no 
instances  of  this  kind.  But  to  conclude  ;  the__otues- 
tion  before  the  court  and  you,  gentlemen  of  the  jury, 
is  not  of  small  nor  private  concern,  it  is  not .  the 
cause  of  a  poor  printer,  nor  of  New  York  alone, 
which  you  are  now  trying :  no  !  it  may,  in  its  conse- 
quences, affect  every  freeman  that  lives  under  a  Brit- 
ish government  on  the  main  of  America.  It  is  the 
best  cause  ;  it  is  the  cause  of  liberty  ;  and  I  make 
no  doubt  but  your  upright  conduct,  this  day.  will  not 
only  entitle  you  to  the  love  and  esteem  of  your  fel- 
low citizens  ;  but  every  man  who  prefers  freedom  to 
a  life  of  slavery,  will  bless  and  honour  you,  as  men 
who  have  baffled  the  attempts  of  tyranny  ;  and  by 


JOHN    PETER    ZENGER.  205 

an  impartial  and  uncorrupt  verdict,  have  laid  a  noble 
foundation  for  securing  to  ourselves,  our  posterity, 
and  our,  neighbors,  that,  to  which  nature  and  the 
laws  of  our  country  have  given  us  a  right,  —  the 
liberty — both  of  exposing  and  opposing  arbitrary 
power,  in  these  parts  of  the  world,  at  least,  by  speak- 
ing and  writing  truth. 

The  address  of  Mr.  Hamilton  was  listened  to  with 
intense  interest  by  a  crowded  audience,  and  was  re- 
ceived with  every  possible  mark  of  favor.  .At  the 
conclusion  of  it,  the  attorney  general  briefly  replied  ; 
and  the  chief  justice  as  briefly  charged  the  jury  to 
the  effect,  that,  as  the  defendant  had  confessed  the 
publication  of  the  words  complained  of,  the  only 
question  for  the  jury  was,  whether  the  words  were 
libellous,  and  this,  being  a  question  of  law,  they  might 
safely  leave  to  the  court.1  The  jury  withdrew,  and 
in  a  short  time  returned  into  court  with  a  verdict  of 
not  guilty. 

The  verdict  was  received  with  shouts.  The  judges 
threatened  the  leader  of  the  tumult  with  imprisonment ; 
when  a  son  of  admiral  Norris  declared  himself  the 
leader,  and  invited  a  repetition  of  the  huzzas.  The 
judges  had  no  time  for  a  reply,  for  the  shouts  were 
instantly  repeated,  and  Mr.  Hamilton  was  conducted 
from  the  hall  by  the  crowd  to  a  splendid  entertainment. 
The  whole  city  renewed  the  compliment  at  his  depart- 


1  The  object  of  the  court  appears  to  have  been  to  induce  the 
jury  to  return  a  special  verdict,  that  the  defendant  did  publish  the 
papers,  and  leave  the  question  of  libel,  or  not,  to  the  court;  but 
Hamilton  had  cautioned  them  not  to  do  so,  but  to  return  a  general 
verdict  of  not  guilty. 

18 


206  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

ure  the  next  day,  and  he  entered  the  barge  under  a 
salute  of  cannon.1  The  common  council  of  New  York 
presented  him  the  freedom  of  the  city,  "  underva  grate- 
ful sense  of  the  remarkable  service  done  by  him  to 
the  city  and  colony,  by  his  learned  and  generous2 
defence  of  the  rights  of  mankind  and  the  liberty 
of  the  press."  A  splendid  gold  box,  in  which 
to  enclose  the  certificate  of  the  freedom,  was  also 
purchased  by  subscription,  on  which  the  arms  of 
the  city  were  engraved,  encircled  with  the  words  ; 
"  DEMERS.E  LEGES  —  TIMEFACTA  LIBERTAS  —  HJEC 
TANDEM  EMERGUNT  : "  in  a  flying  garter  within, 
"  NON  NUMMIS,  VIRTUTE  PARATUR  :"  and  on  the  front, 
"  ITA  CUIO.UE  EVENIAT  UT  DE  REPUBLICA  MERUIT." 

The  argument  of  Mr.  Hamilton,  although  open  to 
criticism,  as  a  legal  production,  must  be  regarded  as 
a  most  able  performance,  under  the  circumstances  of 
the  case.  The  law  was  undoubtedly  against  him, 
but  his  exposition  of  its  difficulties  and  absurdities 
was  clear  and  able,  while  his  address  to  the  jury, 
and  his  whole  management  of  the  defence,  were 
skilful,  and  well  calculated  to  accomplish  the  object 
he  had  in  view.  But  it  was  in  a  political  point  of 
view  that  this  trial  became  of  great  importance.  The 
political  opinions  so  boldly  promulgated  by  Mr.  Ham- 
ilton within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  most  arbitrary 
governor  in  America,  and  before  judges  of  his  own 
creation,  were  eagerly  responded  to  by  the  people  of 

1  Dunlap's  History  of  New  York,  ii.  301. 

2  Mr.  Hamilton  received  no  pecuniary  compensation  for  his  ser- 
vices in  this  trial. 


JOHN    PETER    ZENGER.  207 

the  whole  country.  The  result  of  the  trial  was  pro- 
claimed as  a  triumph  of  the  people  over  arbitrary 
power,  and  gave  a  confidence  to  infant  opinions, 
which  caused  it  to  be  regarded  as  the  morning  star 
of  American  freedom.  "  But  it  was  not  one  light 
alone  that  ushered  in  the  dawn  of  our  independence : 
the  stars  of  a  whole  constellation  sang  together  for 

joy-" 

The  doctrines  of  Mr.  Hamilton  respecting  the  law 
of  libel  have  frequently  been  agitated  since  his  day, 
in  England  and  America.  In  the  former  country, 
the  doctrine  as  declared  in  the  court  of  star  chamber, 
about  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  James  I.,  that 
the  truth  of  a  libel  could  not  be  shown  by  way  of 
justification,  because,  whether  true  or  false,  it  was 
equally  dangerous  to  the  public  peace,  remains  to 
the  present  day  unshaken.1 

In  this  country,  the  subject  has  been  frequently 
discussed,  and  with  different  results.  In  1804,  a 
famous  case  was  argued  before  the  supreme  court  of 
New  York,  and  the  court  were  equally  divided  in 
opinion  on  the  point,  whether,  on  an  indictment  for 
a  libel,  the  defendant  was  entitled  to  give  in  evi- 
dence to  the  jury  the  truth  of  the  charges  contained 
in  the  libel.2  In  Massachusetts,  the  question  came  up 


1  Kent's  Commentaries  on  American  Law,ii,  18-23  (4th  edition), 
where  the  cases  on  this  subject  are  collected. 

*  This  was  the  case  of  Harry  Croswell,  for  a  libel  on  Thomas 
Jefferson.  It  was  argued  with  great  ability  by  Alexander  Hamil- 
ton, Harrison,  and  Van  Ness  for  the  defendant.  Zenger's  case  is 
thus  alluded  to  by  them.  "  The  decision  in  Zenger's  case  in  the 


208  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

in  1808,  and  it  was  decided,  that  the  publication  of 
a  libel,  maliciously,  and  with  intent  to  defame,  was 
clearly  a  public  offence,  whether  the  libel  be  true  or 
not.1  The  same  question  was  again  agitated  in  1825, 
with  the  same  result.2  In  South  Carolina,  in  1811, 
it  was  decided  by  the  court  of  appeals,  that  a  libel 
could  not  be  justified  by  proving  its  truth.3  The 
same  principle  has  been  recognised  in  Louisiana ; 4 
and  the  weight  of  judicial  authority  undoubtedly  is, 
that  the  English  common  law  doctrine  of  libel  is  the 
common  law  doctrine  in  this  country,  in  all  cases  in 
which  it  has  not  been  expressly  controlled  by  consti- 
tutional or  legislative  provisions.5  But  in  several  of 
the  states,  the  matter  is  regulated  by  express  statutes. 

year  1735,  was  of  no  great  authority.  The  times  were  then  vio- 
lent ;  no  great  research  or  temper  were  displayed  on  that  occasion 
by  the  court,  and  the  decision  was  reprobated  by  the  public."  The 
libel  consisted  in  a  publication,  that  "  Jefferson  paid  Callender  for 
calling  Washington  a  traitor,  a  robber,  and  a  perjurer;  for  calling 
Adams  a  hoary  headed  incendiary ;  and  for  most  grossly  slandering 
the  private  characters  of  those  who  he  well  knew  were  virtuous." 
Mr.  Justice  Kent  delivered  a  learned  and  elaborate  opinion,  in 
which  he  held,  that  the  defendant  was  entitled  to  give  in  evidence, 
upon  the  trial,  the  truth  of  the  libel ;  and  that  the  jury  had  a  right 
to  judge  not  only  of  the  fact  of  the  publication,  but  of  the  whole 
matter  in  issue.  This  trial  caused  great  excitement  at  the  time. 
It  is  reported  in  the  appendix  to  the  third  volume  of  Johnson's 
cases,  and  was  also  published  in  a  separate  form. 

The  rights  and  duties  of  juries  in  such  cases  are  fully  and  ably 
discussed  by  Mr.  Baron  Maseres,  in  his  "  Additional  Papers  con- 
cerning the  Province  of  Quebec,"  (published  in  1776,)  ii,  395-425. 
Howell,  xvii,  672,  note. 

1  Commonwealth  v.  Chase,  (4  Massachusetts  Reports,  163.) 

2  Commonwealth  v.  Blanding,  (3  Pickering's  Reports,  304.) 

3  State  v.  Lehre,  (2  Rep.  Const.  Court,  809.) 

4  Territory  v.  Nugent,  (Christy's  Digest,  tit.  Ev.  No.  161.) 
6  Kent's  Commentaries,  ii,  20. 


JOHN    PETER    ZENGER.  209 

In  Massachusetts,  the  defendant  may  give  in  evi- 
dence, in  his  defence  upon  the  trial,  the  truth  of  the 
matter  contained  in  the  publication  alleged  to  be 
libellous ;  but  such  evidence  is  not  a  sufficient  justi- 
fication, unless  the  matter  alleged  to  be  libellous  is 
shown  to  have  been  published  from  good  motives, 
and  for  justifiable  ends.1  In  the  constitutions  of 
Pennsylvania,  Delaware,  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  Ohio, 
Indiana,  and  Illinois,  it  is  declared,  that  in  prosecu- 
tions for  libels  on  men  in  respect  to  their  public  offi- 
cial conduct,  the  truth  may  be  given  in  evidence, 
when  the  matter  published  is  proper  for  public  in- 
formation.2 


1  Revised  Statutes  of  Massachusetts,  chapter  133,  § 

2  Kent's  Commentaries,  ii,  21. 


18* 


TRIALS  OF  CERTAIN  NEGROES  AND  OTHERS 

BEFORE     THE 

SUPREME  COURT  OF  NEW  YORK, 

•>. 

FOR  A  CONSPIRACY    TO    BURN    THE    CITY    AND    MURDER 
THE    INHABITANTS. 

1741. 


A  "  Journal  of  the  Proceedings  in  the  Detection  of  the  Con- 
spiracy, formed  by  some  White  People,  in  conjunction  with  Negro 
and  other  Slaves,  for  Burning  the  city  of  New  York  and  Murder- 
ing the  Inhabitants,"  in  1741,  was  published  by  Daniel  Horse- 
manden,  the  recorder  of  the  city,  in  1744.  It  is  a  large  book  of 
more  than  two  hundred  pages,  printed  in  double  columns.  The 
historian  of  this  famous  "  Negro  Plot  "  was  the  third  justice  of  the 
supreme  court  at  the  time  of  the  events  which  he  records.  He 
was  a  firm  believer  in  the  reality  of  the  conspiracy,  and  takes  great 
pains  to  vindicate  the  proceedings  of  the  magistrates.  His  work 
appears  to  have  been  prepared  with  much  care  and  labor,  but  it 
possesses  little  to  interest  the  general  reader,  being  for  the  most 
part  a  collection  of  evidence  and  abstracts  of  court  records,  thrown 
together  without  much  system  or  proper  arrangement.  This  sup- 
posed "  plot,"  which  threw  the  city  of  New  York  into  a  state  of 
intense  excitement  and  alarm,  and  resulted  in  the  death  of  a  large 
number  of  individuals,  is  not  referred  to  in  much  detail  by  modern 
historical  writers,  although  Mr.  Dunlap,  in  the  second  volume  of 
his  history  of  New  York,  gives  a  somewhat  extended  account  of  it, 
abridged  from  Horsemanden's  Journal.  Mr.  Bancroft  disposes  of 
it  in  a  few  words.  "  Once,"  he  says,  in  speaking  of  the  slaves, 
"an  excitement  against  them  raged  in  New  York,  through  fear  of 
a  pretended  plot,  but  the  frenzy  grew  out  of  a  delusion."  By 
others,  the  subject  is  not  mentioned  at  all. 


THE  NEW  YORK  NEGRO  PLOT. 


IN  the  year  1741,  the  city  of  New  York  was  thrown 
into  the  most  intense  excitement  and  alarm,  by  the 
rumor  of  a  plot  by  the  negro  population  to  burn  the 
city  and  massacre  the  inhabitants.  The  fear  of  such 
an  event  had  some  foundation  in  the  fact,  that  negro 
slavery,  at  that  day,  was  attended  with  difficulties  and 
dangers,  which,  to  a  certain  extent,  have  since  ceased 
to  exist.  Most  of  the  slaves  were  Africans  by  birth, 
who  had  been  violently  torn  from  their  native  land 
and  reduced  to  servitude.  Their  spirits  were  not  yet 
entirely  subdued ;  and  a  race,  which  at  this  day  is 
remarkable  for  implicit  obedience  and  quiet  submis- 
sion, were,  at  the  time  alluded  to,  rude,  boisterous 
and  vicious,  and  had  in  their  number  many  restless 
and  daring  spirits,  whose  influence  was  justly  feared 
by  the  white  population. 

There  had  been  frequent  insurrections  in  different 
parts   of   the   country.     The    Spanish   government 


214  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

made  direct  efforts  to  induce  the  slaves  to  revolt. 
Liberty  and  protection  had  been  proclaimed  to  all 
fugitive  negroes  from  the  English  by  the  governor  of 
Florida,  and  he  had  actually  formed  a  regiment  from 
the  negro  refugees,  appointing  officers  from  among 
themselves,  allowing  them  the  same  pay,  and  cloth- 
ing them  in  the  same  uniform  with  the  regular  troops 
of  Spain.  In  1738,  a  serious  revolt  took  place  in 
South  Carolina,  and  a  large  number  of  the  insurgents 
suffered  the  last  infliction  of  human  power  and  ven- 
geance. 

The  negroes  in  the  largest  commercial  city  of 
America  were  peculiarly  exposed  to  the  temptations 
of  freedom.  They  became  more  intelligent  than  those 
in  the  interior,  and  their  passions  were  inflamed  by 
familiar  intercourse  with  the  lower  orders  of  the 
white  population.  As  early  as  1712,  there  had  been 
an  insurrection  of  the  slaves  in  New  York,  who  fired 
a  house  and  murdered  several  citizens  before  they 
were  dispersed  by  the  soldiers.  Recollection  of  this, 
and  a  general  distrust  of  the  negro  population,  ren- 
dered the  citizens  of  that  city  peculiarly  suspicious  of 
their  movements,  and  when  in  1741,  the  cry  was 
raised  of  a  NEGRO  PLOT,  there  ensued  a  scene  of  con- 
fusion and  alarm,  of  folly,  frenzy  and  injustice,  which 
scarcely  has  a  parallel  in  this  or  any  other  country. 

In  February  of  that  year,  the  house  of  a  merchant, 
named  Hogg,  was  robbed,  and  suspicions  were  en- 
tertained of  John  Hughson,  who  kept  a  low  tavern 
where  negroes  were  in  the  habit  of  resorting.  This 
man  had  an  indented  servant,  Mary  Burton  by  name, 
about  sixteen  years  of  age,  who  gave  information 


NEW  YORK  NEGRO  PLOT.  215 

against  him,  and  he  confessed  that  a  part  of  the 
goods  were  brought  to  his  house,  which  he  delivered 
up  to  the  magistrate.  Peggy  Carey,  a  woman  of 
infamous  character,  was  also  implicated  in  the  rob- 
bery and  was  committed  to  prison.  Soon  after  these 
occurrences,  the  government  house  in  the  fort  was 
discovered  to  be  on  fire,  at  midday,  and  was  burnt, 
together  with  the  king's  chapel,  the  secretary's  office, 
the  barracks,  and  the  stable.  The  fire  was  satisfac- 
torily enough  accounted  for,  but  other  fires  occurring 
in  quick  succession,  on  different  days,  and  some  of 
them  being  undoubtedly  the  work  of  incendiaries, 
great  alarm  was  excited. 

It  happened  that  a  Spanish  vessel,  partly  manned 
with  negroes,  had  previously  been  brought  into  New 
York  as  a  prize,  and  all  the  men  had  been  condemn- 
ed as  slaves  in  the  court  of  admiralty,  and  were  sold 
at  vendue  ;  "  now  these  men  had  the  impudence  to 
say,  notwithstanding  they  were  black,  that  they  were 
freemen  in  their  own  country,  and  to  grumble  at  their 
hard  usage  in  being  sold  for  slaves."  One  of  them 
had  been  bought  by  the  owner  of  a  house  in  which 
fire  was  discovered,  and  a  cry  was  raised  among  the 
people,  "  the  Spanish  negroes,  the  Spanish  !  take  up 
the  Spanish  negroes!"  They  were  immediately 
incarcerated,  and  a  fire  occurring  in  the  afternoon  of 
the  same  day,  the  rumor  became  general,  that  the 
slaves  in  a  body  were  concerned  in  these  wicked 
attempts  to  burn  the  city. 

The  military  were  turned  out,  and  sentries  were 
posted  in  every  part  of  the  city,  while  there  was  a 
general  search  of  the  houses,  and  an  examination  of 


216  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

suspicious  persons.  The  lieutenant  governor,  at  the 
request  of  the  city  authorities,  offered  a  reward  of 
one  hundred  pounds  and  a  full  pardon  to  any  free 
white  person  who  should  discover  the  persons  con- 
cerned in  these  incendiary  acts,  and  freedom  with  a 
reward  of  twenty  pounds  to  any  slave  who  should 
make  the  same  discovery.  The  offer  was  tempting, 
and,  at  the  ensuing  session  of  the  superior  court, 
Mary  Burton,  the  servant  of  Hughson,  made  a  state- 
ment before  the  grand  jury  to  the  effect,  that  three 
negroes,  Ca3sar,  Prince  and  Cuffee,  were  accustomed 
to  meet  at  her  master's,  and  had  made  a  plan  to 
burn  the  whole  city  and  massacre  the  inhabitants. 
She  had  seen  a  large  number  of  negroes  at  the  same 
place,  who  were  all  in  the  conspiracy,  and  there 
were  in  her  master's  house  a  quantity  of  fire  arms. 
The  only  white  persons  concerned  were  her  master, 
his  wife,  and  Peggy  Carey.  The  former  was  to  be 
king,  and  Caesar  was  to  be  governor.  At  one  of  the 
meetings  she  heard  Cuffee  say,  "  that  a  great  many 
people  had  too  much,  and  others  too  little  ;  "  and  he 
intimated  that  such  an  unequal  state  of  things  should 
not  long  continue. 

When  this  statement  was  made  known  to  the 
court,  they  immediately  summoned  all  the  lawyers  in 
the  city1  to  consult  upon  the  measures  most  proper 

1  There  were  seven  of  them  besides  the  attorney  general,  namely, 
Messrs.  Murray,  Alexander,  Smith,  Chambers,  Nichols,  Lodge, 
and  Jamison.  Messrs.  Alexander  and  Smith,  who  had  been  ex- 
cluded from  the  bar  for  their  proceedings  in  Zenger's  case  (ante, 
p.  157,)  appear  to  have  been  restored,  and  were  most  actively  en- 
gaged in  the  prosecutions  of  the  negroes  and  others,  supposed  to 
have  been  concerned  in  the  "  plot." 


NEW  YORK  NEGRO  PLOT.  217 

to  be  adopted  in  this  emergency.  By  a  law  of  the 
colony,  negroes  might  be  tried  for  any  offence  in  a 
summary  way ;  "  but,  as  this  was  a  plot  in  which 
white  people  were  confederated  with  them,  and  most 
probably  were  the  first  movers  and  seducers  of  the 
slaves,  there  was  reason  to  apprehend  a  deeper  de- 
sign than  the  slaves  themselves  were  capable  of ;  and 
it  was  judged  most  advisable  that  it  should  be  taken 
under  the  care  of  the  supreme  court."  Accordingly 
application  was  made  to  the  lieutenant  governor  for 
an  ordinance  to  enlarge  the  term  of  the  supreme 
court ;  and  the  bar  unanimously  offered  their  assist- 
ance on  every  trial,  in  their  turn,  "  as  this  was  con- 
ceived to  be  a  matter  that  not  only  affected  the  city, 
but  the  whole  province." 

Meanwhile  the  examinations  and  confessions  were 
increasing  every  day.  Peggy  Carey,  the  wretched 
prostitute,  being  implicated,  was  examined  by  the 
judges  in  prison.  She  was  promised  pardon  and 
reward  if  she  would  confess  and  expose  the  rest ; 
but  she  said,  "  that  if  she  should  accuse  any  body  of 
any  such  thing,  she  must  accuse  innocent  persons, 
and  wrong  her  own  soul ;  "  and  she  denied  all  know- 
ledge of  the  fires.  But  upon  being  convicted  as  a 
receiver  of  stolen  goods,  she  "  seemed  to  think  it 
high  time  to  do  something  to  recommend  herself  to 
mercy,"  and  made  a  voluntary  confession,  in  which 
she  changed  the  scene  of  the  plot  from  Hughson's  to 
John  Romme's,  a  shoemaker,  and  the  keeper  of  a 
low  tavern,  where  she  said  several  negroes  used  to 
meet,  to  whom  Romme  administered  an  oath ;  and 
they  were  to  attempt  to  burn  the  city,  but  if  they 
19 


218  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

did  not  succeed,  they  were  to  steal  all  they  could, 
and  he  was  to  carry  them  to  a  strange  country  and 
give  them  their  liberty.  All  the  slaves  mentioned  by 
her  were  immediately  arrested.  Romme  absconded, 
but  was  afterwards  taken  in  New  Jersey. 

On  the  twenty-ninth  of  May,  1741,  the  negro 
slaves,  Quack  and  Cuffee,  were  brought  to  trial  be- 
fore the  supreme  court,  on  a  charge  of  a  conspiracy 
to  murder  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  of  New  York. 
The  principal  evidence  against  them  came  from  Mary 
Burton.  There  was  also  some  evidence  against  them 
from  negroes.1  The  prisoners  had  no  counsel,  while 
the  attorney  general,  assisted  by  two  members  of  the 
bar,  appeared  against  them.  The  evidence  had  little 
consistency,  and  was  extremely  loose  and  general. 
The  arguments  of  the  lawyers  were  chiefly  declama- 
tory respecting  the  horrible  plot,  of  the  existence  of 
which,  however,  no  sufficient  evidence  was  intro- 
duced. "  The  monstrous  ingratitude  of  this  black 
tribe,"  was  the  language  of  one  of  them,  in  address- 
ing the  jury,  "  is  what  exceedingly  aggravates  their 
guilt.  Their  slavery  among  us  is  generally  softened 
with  great  indulgence.  They  live  without  care ; 
and  are  commonly  better  clothed  and  fed,  and  put 
to  less  labor,  than  the  poor  of  most  Christian  coun- 
tries. But  notwithstanding  all  the  kindness  and 
tenderness  with  which  they  have  been  treated  amongst 
us,  yet  this  is  the  second  attempt  of  the  same  kind, 
that  this  brutish  and  bloody  species  of  mankind  have 

1  By  a  law  of  the  colony,  the  evidence  of  slaves  was  competent 
against  each  other.  It  was  not  allowed  to  be  used  against  white 
men. 


NEW  YORK  NEGRO  PLOT.  219 

made  within  one  age."  The  prisoners  were  imme- 
diately convicted,  and  were  sentenced  by  one  of  the 
court,  in  a  brutal  address,  which  is  singularly  indica- 
tive of  the  general  excitement  on  the  subject,  to  be 
burnt  to  death.  "  You  that  were  for  destroying  us 
without  mercy,"  he  said,  "  you  abject  wretches,  the 
outcasts  of  the  nations  of  the  earth,  are  treated  here 
with  tenderness  and  humanity  ;  and,  I  wish  I  could 
not  say  with  too  great  indulgence,  for  you  have 
grown  wanton  with  excess  of  liberty,  and  your  idle- 
ness has  proved  your  ruin,  having  given  you  the 
opportunities  of  forming  this  villanous  and  detestable 
conspiracy.  What  hopes  can  you  have  of  mercy 
in  the  other  world,  for  shall  not  the  judge  of  all  the 
earth  do  right  ? "  and  he  urged  them  to  confess  as 
affording  the  only  hope  of  mercy. 

The  prisoners  protested  their  innocence  and  utterly 
denied  any  knowledge  of  any  plot  whatever ;  but 
when  they  were  taken  out  to  execution,  the  poor 
creatures  were  much  terrified  ;  the  officers  again  en- 
deavored to  persuade  them  to  confess,  and  after  they 
were  chained  to  the  stake,  and  the  executioner  was 
ready  to  apply  the  torch,  they  admitted  all  that  was 
required  of  them.  An  attempt  was  then  made  to 
procure  a  reprieve,  but  a  great  multitude  had  assem- 
bled to  witness  the  executions,  and  the  excitement 
was  so  great,  that  it  was  considered  impossible  to 
return  the  prisoners  to  prison.  They  were  accord- 
ingly burned  at  the  stake.  Although  Hughson  and 
his  wife  had  already  been  tried,  and  were  under  sen- 
tence of  death  for  the  felony  of  receiving  stolen 
goods,  it  was  determined  to  bring  them  to  another 


220  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

trial  for  being  concerned  in  the  conspiracy.  Accord- 
ingly on  the  fourth  of  June,  1741,  Hughson,  his  wife, 
his  daughter,  and  Peggy  Carey,  were  placed  at  the 
bar  for  trial.  Mary  Burton  was  at  hand  with  her 
tales,  and  Arthur  Price,  a  thief  and  an  infamous 
character,  who  had  been  employed  by  the  magistrates 
to  go  to  Sarah  Hughson  and  endeavor  to  make  her 
accuse  her  father  and  mother,  related  a  conversation 
he  pretended  to  have  had  with  her.  The  prisoners 
had  no  counsel,  and  almost  every  member  of  the  bar 
appeared  against  them.  The  attorney  general  made 
an  address  to  the  jury  which  was  full  of  outrageous 
invectives  against  Hughson.  "  Such  a  monster,"  he 
said,  "  will  this  Hughson  appear  before  you,  that,  for 
the  sake  of  the  plunder  he  expected  by  setting  in 
flames  the  king's  house,  and  this  whole  city,  he,  re- 
morseless he !  counselled  and  encouraged  the  com- 
mitting of  all  these  most  astonishing  deeds,  of  dark- 
ness, cruelty  and  inhumanity  —  infamous  Hughson  ! 
Gentlemen,  this  is  that  Hughson,  whose  name  and 
most  detestable  conspiracies  will  no  doubt  be  had  in 
everlasting  remembrance,  to  his  eternal  reproach,  and 
stand  recorded  to  the  latest  posterity.  This  is  the 
man !  This,  that  grand  incendiary !  That  arch 
rebel  against  God,  his  king,  and  his  country  !  That 
devil  incarnate,  and  chief  agent  of  the  Abaddon  of 
the  infernal  pit  and  regions  of  darkness."  ' 

The  prisoners  severally  and  solemnly  protested 
their  innocence,  declared  that  what  the  witnesses  had 

1  It  should  be  kept  in  mind  that  these  remarks  are  reported  by 
one  of  the  judges,  who  was  a  firm  believer  in  the  plot,  and  cannot 
be  suspected  of  throwing  ridicule  upon  the  attorney  general. 


NEW  YORK  NEGRO  PLOT.  221 

said  against  them  was  false,  and  called  upon  God  to 
witness  their  asseverations.  They  were  all  found 
guilty,  and  were  sentenced  to  be  hanged.  "  Good 
God!"  exclaimed  the  judge,  in  pronouncing  sen- 
tence, "  when  I  reflect  on  the  disorders,  confusion, 
desolation  and  havoc,  which  the  effect  of  your  most 
wicked,  most  detestable,  and  diabolical  counsels  might 
have  produced,  had  not  the  hand  of  our  great  and 
good  God  interposed,  it  shocks  me ;  and,  you,  who 
would  have  burnt  and  destroyed  without  mercy,  ought 
to  be  served  in  a  like  manner." 

The  daughter  of  Hughson  confessed,  and  was 
saved.  Peggy  Carey  had  confessed,  but  retracted, 
and  said  that  what  she  had  confessed  was  a  gross 
prevarication,  and  that  she  had  sworn  falsely  against 
those  she  accused.  She  was  accordingly  executed. 
On  the  evening  before  her  death,  she  sent  for  one 
of  the  judges,  and  reiterated  to  him  her  statement 
that  she  had  foresworn  herself  in  regard  to  the  plot. 
Hughson  and  his  wife  asserted  their  innocence  to  the 
last  and  were  executed.  When  the  three  came  to  die, 
Hughson  seemed  to  expect  a  rescue.1  His  wife  was 
senseless,  and  Peggy  Carey  met  her  fate  with  less 
composure  than  either  of  the  others. 

1  On  the  day  previous  to  Hughson's  trial,  the  recorder  visited 
him  in  prison  at  his  request.  He  entreated  to  be  sworn,  but  it  was 
refused,  and  he  then  averred  that  he  knew  nothing  of  any  con- 
spiracy, and  called  God  to  witness  his  assertion  that  he  was  inno- 
cent. It  is  surprising  there  were  not  even  more  confessions ;  but 
some  who  did  confess  were  executed,  and  it  required  considera- 
ble wit  to  frame  a  confession  sufficient  to  satisfy  public  credulity. 
If  a  prisoner  did  not  tell  some  terrible  thing,  it  was  at  once  said 
that  he  kept  back  a  part  of  the  truth  and  his  confession  availed 
him  nothing. 


222  AMERICAN   TRIALS. 

Meanwhile  the  trials  were  prosecuted  with  all  pos- 
sible vigor.  On  the  eighth  of  June,  six  negroes  were 
condemned  to  be  chained  to  a  stake  and  burned.  On 
the  tenth  of  June,  four  more  negroes  were  tried,  con- 
victed, and  subsequently  received  the  same  sentence. 
One  of  them  immediately  made  a  confession  in  court, 
implicating  a  large  number  of  negroes.  On  the  thir- 
teenth of  June,  five  more  were  convicted,  and  on 
the  fifteenth  of  the  same  month,  were  sentenced  to 
death.  On  the  seventeenth  of  June,  five  of  the 
Spanish  negroes  were  brought  to  trial.  By  a  law  of 
the  province,  the  testimony  of  slaves  could  only  be 
used  against  each  other,  and  it  was  used  in  the  pre- 
sent instance  ;  but  the  prisoners  complained  bitterly 
of  the  injustice  done  them,  insisting  that  they  were 
freemen  in  their  own. country.  The  court  decided, 
however,  that  they  were  slaves,  and  the  evidence  of 
slaves  was  properly  used  against  them.  They  were 
all  condemned.  On  the  nineteenth  of  June,  the 
lieutenant  governor  offered  a  full  pardon  to  all  who 
would  make  confession  before  the  first  of  July.  The 
poor  negroes,  being  extremely  terrified,  were  anxious 
to  take  the  only  avenue  of  safety  that  was  offered, 
and  each  strove  to  tell  a  story  as  ingenious  and  hor- 
rible as  he  could  manufacture.  "Now,"  says  the 
historian  of  the  plot,  "  many  negroes  began  to  squeak, 
in  order  to  lay  hold  of  the  benefit  of  the  proclama- 
tion. Some  who  had  been  apprehended,  but  not 
indicted,  and  many  who  had  been  indicted  and 
arraigned,  who  had  pleaded  not  guilty,  were  disposed 
to  retract  their  pleas  and  plead  guilty,  and  throw 


NEW  YORK  NEGRO  PLOT.  223 

themselves  on  the  mercy  of  the  court." '  In  one 
week  after  the  proclamation,  there  were  thirty  addi- 
tional slaves  accused,  and  before  the  fifteenth  of  July, 
forty-six  negroes,  on  their  arraignment  at  different 
times,  pleaded  guilty.  Suspected  slaves  were  daily 
arrested,  until  at  length  the  prison  became  so  full 
that  there  was  danger  of  disease,  and  the  court 
again  called  in  the  assistance  of  the  members  of  the 
bar,  who  agreed  to  bear  their  respective  shares  in  the 
fatigue  of  the  several  prosecutions. 

The  terrible  cry  of  POPERY  was  now  raised,  which 
struck  terror  to  the  hearts  of  all,  and  led  to  the  sac- 
rifice of  an  amiable  and  interesting  clergyman,  of 
whose  innocence  there  can  scarcely  remain  a  doubt, 
so  absurd  was  the  charge  against  him,  and  so  feebly 
was  it  supported.  As  his  trial  is  indicative  of  the 
state  of  feeling  at  the  time,  it  will  be  given  some- 
what in  detail. 

TRIAL,    OF    JOHN    URY. 

John  Ury,  the  son  of  a  former  secretary  of  the 
South  Sea  Company,  was  a  non-juring  clergyman,  arid 
a  man  of  education.  He  came  to  New  York  for  the 
purpose  of  teaching  a  school.  When  he  was  arrested, 
he  denied  all  knowledge  of  any  plot  or  even  of  the 
witnesses  who  testified  against  him ;  but  Mary  Bur- 
ton, and  William  Kane,  a  soldier  who  had  himself 
been  accused  and  escaped  by  confession,  testified 
positively,  that  Ury  was  in  the  habit  of  meeting  the 
negroes  at  Hughson's,  and  he  was  committed  to 

1  Ilorsemandcn's  Journal,  107. 


224  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

prison.  His  trial  took  place  on  the  twenty-ninth  of 
July,  1741,  before  the  supreme  court.  He  was 
charged  with  having  counselled,  abetted,  and  pro- 
cured a  negro  slave,  named  Quack,  to  set  fire  to  the 
king's  house  in  the  fort.  A  second  indictment 
charged,  that  being  a  priest,  made  by  the  authority 
of  the  pretended  see  of  Rome,  he  came  into  the 
province  and  city  of  New  York  after  the  time  limited 
by  a  law  against  Jesuits  and  popish  priests.1  He 
pleaded  not  guilty,  and  prayed  a  copy  of  the  indict- 
ments, but  a  copy  of  the  second  only  was  granted 
to  him.  He  had  no  counsel,  while  there  were  ar- 
rayed against  him  the  attorney  general  and  four  emi- 
nent lawyers  of  the  New  York  bar. 

Attorney  general  Bradley  opened  the  case  on  the 
part  of  the  prosecution  as  follows  :  In  order  to  main- 
tain the  charge  against  the  prisoner  upon  this  indict- 
ment, we  shall  prove  to  you,  that  the  prisoner  was 
actually  concerned  in  the  plot  to  burn  the  king's 
house,  and  this  city,  and  murder  the  inhabitants ; 
that  he  has  frequently  been  at  Hughson's  house,  in 
company  with  Hughson,  his  wife,  and  daughter,  and 
Kerry,  and  with  divers  negroes,  talking  with  them 
about  the  plot,  counselling  and  encouraging  them  to 
burn  the  king's  house,  and  the  town,  and  to  kill  the 
inhabitants ;  that  he  advised  them  what  would  be 
the  fittest  time  to  set  the  English  church  on  fire ; 

1  By  this  law,  passed  in  the  eleventh  year  of  William  III.,  it 
was  provided,  that  any  priest  of  the  church  of  Rome,  who  should 
come  into  the  province  after  November,  1700,  should  suffer  perpet- 
ual imprisonment,  and  if  any  person  so  sentenced  should  break 
prison,  and  be  afterward  retaken,  he  should  suffer  death. 


NEW  YORK  NEGRO  PLOT.  225 

and  that  the  prisoner,  as  a  popish  priest,  baptized 
Hughson,  his  wife,  and  daughter,  and  Kerry,  and 
also  divers  negroes,  and  told  them  that  he  could  for- 
give sins,  and  that  he  forgave  them  their  sins  relating 
to  the  plot.  When  he  was  with  the  negroes  at 
Hughson's  house,  he  used  to  make  a  round  ring  on 
the  floor  with  chalk,  or  some  other  thing,  and  stand 
in  the  middle  of  it  with  a  cross  in  his  hand,  and 
swear  the  negroes  into  the  plot ;  and  that  they  should 
not  discover  either  the  plot,  or  him,  or  any  other  per- 
son concerned  in  it,  though  they  were  to  die  for  it. 
We  shall  likewise  produce  to  you  a  letter  from  gen- 
eral Oglethorpe,  to  his  honor  our  governor,  whereby 
it  appears,  that  some  time  before  the  plot  broke  out 
here,  the  Spaniards  had  employed  emissaries  to  burn 
all  the  magazines  and  considerable  towns  in  the 
English  North  America :  and  that  many  priests  were 
employed,  under  pretended  appellations  of  physicians, 
dancing  masters,  and  such  like  occupations  ;  and, 
under  such  pretences  to  get  admittance  into,  and 
confidence  in,  families. 

Gentlemen,  what  I  have  alleged,  and  much  more, 
you  will  hear  fully  proved  against  the  prisoner  by  the 
witnesses  for  the  king,  on  this  trial :  but  before  we 
enter  upon  their  examination,  give  me  leave  to  say  a 
few  words  concerning  the  heinousness  of  this  pris- 
oner's offences,  and  of  the  popish  religion  in  general ; 
which  I  shall  speak  but  very  briefly  to,  as  there  are 
several  other  gentlemen  of  counsel  for  the  king  on 
this  trial,  and  as  I  have  not  had  either  health  or  lei- 
sure to  prepare  to  say  much  on  this  occasion. 

Gentlemen,  the  late  dreadful  conspiracy  to  burn 


226  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

the  king's  house,  and  this  whole  town,  and  to  kill  the 
inhabitants,  which  the  prisoner,  as  well  as  Hughson, 
advised  and  encouraged,  and  swore  many  the  con- 
spirators to  join  and  bear  their  parts  in,  are  crimes  of 
too  black  and  inhuman  a  nature  to  need  any  aggra- 
vation ;  and,  no  doubt,  the  prisoner's  engaging,  at  the 
peril  of  his  own  life,  in  so  destructive,  so  bloody,  and 
dangerous  an  enterprise,  proceeded  from  his  being 
employed  in  it  by  other  popish  priests  and  emissaries, 
and  his  zeal  for  that  murderous  religion :  for  the  popish 
religion  is  such,  that  they  hold  it  not  only  lawful  but 
meritorious,  to  kill  and  destroy  all  that  differ  in  opin- 
ion from  them,  if  it  may  any  ways  serve  the  interest 
of  their  detestable  religion  ;  the  whole  scheme  of 
.which  seems  to  be  a  restless  endeavor  to  extirpate  all 
other  religions  whatsoever,  but  more  especially  the 
protestant  religion,  which  they  maliciously  call  the 
northern  heresy.  To  attain  this  wicked  end,  their 
first  trick  is,  by  subtle  arguments  to  persuade  the 
laity  out  of  their  senses,  by  showing  them  a  seeming 
necessity  for  their  believing  as  their  church  believes, 
if  they  tender  their  own  salvation  ;  and  this,  with 
many  more  frauds,  the  church  of  Rome  has  artfully 
devised  to  get  an  absolute  dominion  over  the  con- 
sciences, that  they  may  the  more  easily  pick  the 
pockets  of  credulous  people  :  witness  the  pretended 
pardons  and  indulgences  of  that  crafty  and  deceitful 
church,  and  their  masses  to  pray  souls  out  of  purga- 
tory, which  they  quote  (or  rather  wrest)  scripture 
for,  when  no  such  thing  is  to  be  found  there ;  but  is 
a  mere  invention  and  cheat  of  their  own  to  gull  the 
laity  of  their  money. 


NEW    YORK    NEGRO    PLOT.  227 

Then  they  have  their  doctrine  of  transubstantia- 
tion,  which  is  so  big  with  absurdities,  that  it  is  shock- 
ing to  the  common  sense  and  reason  of  mankind  ; 
for  were  that  doctrine  true,  their  priests,  by  a  few 
words  of  their  mouths,  can  make  a  god  as  often  as 
they  please  ;  but  then  they  eat  him  too ;  and  this 
they  have  the  impudence  to  call  honoring  and  adoring 
of  him.  Blasphemous  wretches !  For  hereby  they 
endeavor  to  exalt  themselves  above  God  himself,  in- 
asmuch as  the  creator  must  necessarily  be  greater 
than  his  creature. 

These  and  many  other  juggling  tricks  they  have  in 
their  hocus  pocus,  bloody  religion  ;  which  have  been 
stripped  of  all  their  wretched  disguise,  and  fully  ex- 
posed in  their  own  colors  by  many  eminent  divines, 
but  more  particularly  by  the  great  Dr.  Tillotson, 
whose  extraordinary  endowments  of  mind,  his  inim- 
itable works,  and  exemplary  piety  and  charity,  have 
gained  him  such  universal  esteem  and  applause 
throughout  all  the  protestant  world,  as,  no  doubt,  will 
endure  as  long  as  the  protestant  name  and  religion 
lasts,  which  I  hope  will  be  to  the  end  of  time. 

Gentlemen,  when  you  have  heard  the  witnesses 
prove  what  I  have  alleged  against  the  prisoner,  I 
make  no  doubt  but  you  will,  for  your  oath's  sake,  and 
for  your  own  country's  peace  and  future  safety,  find 
him  guilty. 

Mary  Burton  was  then  called  and  sworn. 

Chambers  —  of  counsel  for  the  king.  —  Mary,  give 
the  court  and  jury  an  account  of  what  you  know 
concerning  this  conspiracy,  to  burn  down  the  town, 
and  murder  and  destroy  the  inhabitants ;  and  what 


228  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

part  you  know  the  prisoner  at  the  bar  acted  in  it : 
tell  the  whole  story  from  the  beginning,  in  your  own 
method,  but  speak  slow,  not  so  hastily  as  you  usually 
do,  that  the  court  and  jury  may  the  better  understand 

you. 

Mary  Burton.  I  have  seen  Ury  very  often  at 
Hughson's,  about  christmas  and  new  year,  and  then 
he  staid  away  about  a  fortnight  or  three  weeks,  and 
returned  again  about  the  time  that  Hogg's  goods  came 
to  our  house.  I  have  often  seen  him  in  company 
with  Hughson,  his  wife,  and  daughter,  Peggy,  and 
several  negroes,  talking  about  the  plot,  burning  the 
fort  first,  then  the  fly,  and  then  the  dock :  and  upon 
some  of  the  negroes  saying,  they  were  afraid  of  being 
damned  for  being  concerned  in  the  plot,  I  heard  Ury 
tell  them  they  need  not  fear  doing  it,  for  that  he 
could  forgive  them  their  sins  as  well  as  God  Almighty, 
and  would  forgive  them.  They  were  to  burn  the 
whole  town  and  to  kill  the  people ;  Ury  was  to  be 
captain  of  a  company  of  negroes,  and  he  was  to 
begin  the  fire  where  he  lodged ;  once  when  they 
were  together  above  stairs,  Ury,  Hughson,  his  wife, 
and  Peggy,  they  called  Mary,  and  I  went  up ;  but 
when  I  came  up  stairs,  Ury  had  a  book  in  his  hand, 
and  bade  me  go  away,  and  asked  me  what  business 
I  had  there,  and  said,  they  did  not  call  me,  they 
called  Mary  Hughson  ;  he  was  angry,  and  shut  the 
door  to  again ;  I  looked  under  it ;  and  there  was  a 
black  ring  upon  the  floor,  and  things  in  it,  that 
seemed  to  look  like  rats,  I  don't  know  what  they 
were.  Another  time  I  heard  him  talking  with  the 
negroes,  Quack  and  others,  about  the  plot ;  and  he 


NEW  YORK  NEGRO  PLOT.  229 

turned  the  negroes  out  of  the  room,  and  asked  me 
to  swear  ?  I  said  I  would  swear,  if  they  would  tell 
me  what  I  was  going  to  swear ;  but  they  would  have 
me  swear  first;  Hughson  and  his  wife  went  and 
fetched  silks  and  gold  rings,  and  offered  them  to  me, 
in  case  I  would  swear ;  but  I  would  not,  and  they 
said,  I  was  a  fool  ;  Ury  then  told  me,  he  could  for- 
give sins  as  well  as  God ;  I  answered,  I  thought 
that  was  out  of  his  power.  One  night,  some  time 
about  new  year,  I  was  listening  at  the  door  of  the 
room  upon  the  stairs,  where  were  Ury,  Hughson,  his 
wife  and  daughter  Sarah,  Caesar,  Prince,  Cuff,  and 
other  negroes  ;  I  looked  through  the  door,  and  saw 
upon  the  table  a  black  thing  like  a  child,  when  Ury 
had  a  book  in  his  hand,  and  was  reading,  but  I  did 
not  understand  the  language  ;  and  having  a  spoon  in 
my  hand,  I  happened  to  let  it.drop  upon  the  floor  ; 
Ury  came  out  of  the  room,  running  after  me  down 
stairs  ;  he  fell  into  a  tub  of  water,  which  stood  at 
the  foot  of  the  stairs,  and  I  ran  away.  When  they 
were  doing  any  thing  extraordinary  at  nights,  they 
would  send  me  to  bed. 

Prisoner.  You  say,  you  have  seen  me  several 
times  at  Hughson's,  what  clothes  did  I  usually  wear  ? 

Mary  Burton.  I  cannot  tell  what  clothes  you  wore 
particularly. 

"  That  is  strange,  and  know  me  so  well." 

'•  I  have  seen  you  in  several  clothes,  but  you  chiefly 
wore  a  riding  coat,  and  often  a  brown  coat,  trimmed 
with  black." 

"  I  never  wore  any  such  coat.  What  time  of  the 
day  did  I  usually  come  to  Hughson's  ?  " 


230  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

"  You  used  chiefly  to  come  in  the  night  time,  and 
when  I  have  been  going  to  bed ;  I  have  seen  you 
undressing  in  Peggy's  room,  as  if  you  were  to  lie 
there ;  but  I  cannot  say  that  you  did,  for  you  were 
always  gone  before  I  was  up  in  the  morning." 

"  What  room  was  I  in  when  I  called  Mary,  and 
you  came  up,  as  you  said  ?  " 

"  In  the  great  room  up  stairs." 

"  What  answer  did  the  negroes  make,  when  I 
offered  to  forgive  them  their  sins,  as  you  said  ?  " 

"  I  don't  remember." 

William  Kane.1  I  know  the  prisoner  very  well,  I 
have  seen  him  at  Croker's,  at  Coffin's,  and  Hugh- 
son's,  and  particularly  with  Daniel  Fagen,  Jerry 
Corker,  and  one  Plummer,  and  several  negroes,  at 
Hughson's.  Jerry  Corker  was  one  of  the  first  that 
brought  me  into  the  plot.  One  day  before  christmas 
last,  I  was  standing  sentry  at  the  governor's  door, 
and  Jerry  Corker  coming  out,  I  being  dry,  asked  him 
for  beer  ;  Jerry  said  he  would  get  some  ;  that  he  had 
rum  in  his  pocket,  and  would  make  flip ;  and  then 
he  went  in  and  made  it  in  a  copper  pot,  and  told  me 
it  was  with  loaf  sugar ;  I  drank  a  draught  of  it ;  and 
when  I  was  relieved  at  night,  Corker  came  into  the 
guard  room,  and  asked  me  if  I  would  go  to  Croker's 
at  the  Fighting  Cocks,  where  there  was  to  be  a  christ- 
ening by  a  Romish  priest;  we  went  thither,  and 
staid  till  past  ten  o'clock,  but  the  people  did  not 
come  that  night.  The  next  night,  Corker  and  I  went 

1  This  witness,  a  soldier,  had  been  accused  of  being  one  of  the 
conspirators.  He  denied  it  at  first,  but  subsequently  confessed, 
and  was  saved. 


NEW  YORK  NEGRO  PLOT.  231 

there  again,  but  the  people  were  not  there.  The 
third  night  we  went  to  New  street,  to  the  house  of 
one  Coffin,  a  pedlar  ;  there  they  had  a  child,  and 
Ury  christened  it,  and  read  Latin.  Three  acted  as 
priests,  and  handed  the  book  about.  Ury  put  salt  in 
the  child's  mouth,  sprinkled  it  thrice,  and  crossed  it. 
Ury  and  Corker  there  endeavored  to  persuade  me  to 
be  a  Roman  catholic ;  Ury  said,  't  was  best  to  be  a 
Roman,  they  could  forgive  sins  for  any  thing  ever  so 
bad.  I  told  him,  I  did  not  believe  him  ;  and  Corker 
told  me  that  Ury  and  all  priests  could  forgive  sins. 
Ury  was  present  at  Hughson's  wrhen  John  Hughson 
swore  me  and  his  father,  and  brothers,  into  the  plot; 
there  was  Quack,  and  forty  or  fifty  negroes  there  at 
the  same  time ;  we  were  to  burn  the  town,  and  de- 
stroy the  people.  David  Johnson  was  there,  and  Ury 
tipped  him  on  the  shoulder,  and  they  went  into  a 
room  together,  and  staid  a  quarter  of  an  hour  ;  and 
when  they  came  back,  Johnson  said  "  we  will  burn 
the  Dutch,  and  get  their  money  ;  "  by  Ury's  persua- 
sions that  he  could  forgive  sins,  many  were  brought 
in  to  be  concerned.  Ury  was  near  me  when  I  was 
sworn,  and  the  Hughsons,  and  I  took  him  to  be  one 
of  the  head  ;  Ury  wanted  to  christen  me,  but  I  would 
not  suffer  him,  and  he  would  not  speak  to  me,  nor 
before  me,  for  a  long  time ;  for  he  could  not  abide 
me,  because  I  refused  to  become  a  Roman,  till  after 
he  knew  that  I  was  concerned  in  the  plot,  and  even 
then  he  did  not  much  care  for  me.  Ury  was  by, 
when  Hughson  swore  eight  negroes  into  the  plot  in 
a  ring ;  and  it  was  then  talked  among  them,  of  burn- 
ing the  fort ;  and  Quack,  who  was  present,  was  at 


232  AMERICAN   TRIALS. 

that  time  pitched  upon  to  do  it,  in  the  presence  of 
Ury,  who  might,  and  probably  did  hear  it.  Jerry 
Corker  told  me,  that  the  English  church  was  intended 
to  be  burnt  on  christmas  day  last ;  but  Ury  put  it 
off,  and  said,  that  when  the  weather  was  better,  then 
there  would  be  a  fuller  congregation. 

Prisoner.  You  say  you  have  seen  me  very  often, 
you  saw  me  at  Coffin's,  you  saw  me  several  times  at 
Hughson's,  pray  what  clothes  did  you  see  me  in  ? 

Kane.  I  have  seen  you  in  black,  I  have  seen  you 
in  a  yellowish  great  coat,  and  sometimes  in  a  straight- 
bodied  coat,  of  much  the  same  color. 

"  What  time  of  the  day  have  you  seen  me  at  Hugh- 
son's,  and  what  did  I  say  to  you  ?  " 

"  I  have  seen  you  there  chiefly  at  night,  and  you 
told  me,  you  could  forgive  me  my  sins,  and  there 
would  be  no  fear  of  damnation,  and  you  wanted  to 
christen  me." 

"  You  say  you  saw  me  christen  a  child  in  New 
street ;  how  was  the  child  dressed,  and  what  cere- 
mony did  I  use,  and  who  was  present  there  then  ?  " 

"  The  child  was  not  naked,  it  was  dressed  as  usual ; 
and  you  put  it  on  your  left  arm,  and  sprinkled  it 
with  water  three  times,  and  put  salt  in  its  mouth,  and 
crossed  it,  as  I  said  before ;  there  were  about  nine 
persons  present." 

"  Did  I  use  any  thing  besides  salt  and  water  ?  " 

"  Not  that  I  saw." 

"  Who  were  present  at  the  christening  ?  " 

"  Eight  or  nine  persons,  I  think  ;  there  was  Jerry 
Corker,  Daniel  Fagen,  Coffin,  you,  the  mother  of  the 
child,  myself,  and  two  or  three  more." 


NEW    YORK    NEGRO    PLOT.  233 

"  You  say  you  saw  me  at  Hughson's  several  times, 
what  room  was  I  usually  in  ? " 

"  Sometimes  in  one  room,  and  sometimes  in  an- 
other." 

"  At  what  times  was  I  there  ? " 

"  At  nights." 

"  What  habit  have  you  seen  me  wear  ?  " 

"  A  black  coat,  a  yellowish  surtout,  and  sometimes 
a  light-colored,  close-bodied  cape  coat." 

"  What  did  I  offer  in  order  to  induce  you  to  be- 
come a  Roman  catholic  ? " 

"  Forgiveness  of  all  my  sins  past,  and  what  I  should 
do  in  this  case ;  and  I  said  to  you,  what  a  fine  thing 
it  is  to  be  of  such  a  religion,  when  a  priest  can  for- 
give sins,  and  send  one  to  heaven." 

Sarah  Hughson.1  I  know  the  prisoner,  and  have 
often  seen  him  at  my  father's,  late  in  last  fall  chiefly  ; 
I  have  seen  him  there  at  night,  in  company  with  ne- 
groes, when  they  have  been  talking  of  burning  the 
town,  and  killing  the  white  people.  I  have  seen  him 
make  a  ring  with  chalk  on  the  floor,  which  he  made 
the  negroes  stand  round,  and  put  their  left  foot  in, 
and  he  swore  them  with  a  cross  in  his  hand,  to  burn 
and  destroy  the  town,  and  to  cut  their  masters'  and 
mistresses  throats.  He  swore  Bastian,  Cresar,  Prince, 
and  Quack  ;  he  swore  them  to  keep  secret,  and  not 
to  discover  him  or  any  body  else,  if  they  were  to  die 
for  it.  I  have  heard  Ury,  and  the  negroes,  talk  of 

1  This  witness  had  been  convicted  and  sentenced  to  death  for 
being  concerned  in  the  conspiracy.  After  repeated  efforts  had  been 
made  to  induce  her  to  confess,  she  at  length  did  so,  and  was  par- 
doned. 

20» 


234  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

burning  the  fort ;  and  he  said,  if  that  did  not  do, 
they  were  to  begin  at  the  east  end  of  the  town,  with 
a  strong  easterly  wind,  and  that  would  go  through 
the  whole  town.  He  asked  me  to  swear  to  the  plot, 
and  said,  that  I  should  have  all  my  sins  forgiven,  if 
I  kept  all  secret ;  and  he  swore  me  on  an  English 
book,  and  my  parents  and  Peggy  were  by  ;  he  swore 
Peggy  too ;  I  heard  him  tell  her,  that  all  the  sins 
which  she  had  committed  should  be  forgiven  her ; 
and  he  told  her,  that  priests  could  forgive  sins  as 
well  as  God,  if  they  would  follow  their  directions. 
He  used  to  christen  negroes  there ;  he  christened 
Caesar,  Quack,  and  other  negroes,  crossed  them  on 
the  face,  had  water  and  other  things ;  and  he  told 
them,  he  would  absolve  them  from  all  their  sins. 

Prisoner.     How  did  I  swear  you  ? 

Sarah  Hughson.  On  a  book  :  I  believe  it  was  an 
English  book. 

"  Who  was  present  when  I  swore  you  ?  " 

"  My  parents,  Peggy,  Kane,  and  others." 

"  You  say  I  baptized  several  people,  pray  what 
ceremony  did  I  use  at  baptizing  ? " 

"When  you  baptized  the  negroes,  you  made  a 
cross  upon  their  faces,  and  sprinkled  water,  and  you 
used  something  else,  but  I  cannot  tell  what;  and 
you  talked  in  a  language  which  I  did  not  under- 
stand." 

"  Whom  did  I  baptize  ?  " 

"  Caesar,  Prince,  Bastian,  Quack,  Cuffee,  and  seve- 
ral other  negroes." 

The  counsel  for  the  king  then  introduced  a:  etter 
from  General  Oglethorpe,  of  Georgia,  to  the  lieuten- 


NEW  YORK  NEGRO  PLOT.          235 

ant  governor  of  New  York,  to  show  a  probability  that 
the  prisoner  was  an  emissary  of  Spain.  The  state- 
ment in  the  letter  was,  that  a  Spanish  prisoner  taken 
in  an  engagement  near  Augustine,  had  given  intelli- 
gence that  the  Spaniards  had  employed  emissaries  to 
burn  all  the  magazines  and  considerable  towns  in 
North  America,  thereby  to  prevent  the  subsistence  of 
the  English  fleet  in  the  West  Indies ;  and  that,  for 
this  purpose,  many  priests  were  employed  who  pre- 
tended to  be  physicians,  dancing  masters,  and  in- 
structers,  and  under  these  pretences  were  to  endeavor 
to  gain  admittance  and  confidence  in  private  families. 
After  this  letter  was  read,  the  counsel  for  the  king 
said  they  had  no  more  evidence. 

The  prisoner,  who  was  obliged  to  conduct  his  own 
defence,  being  then  asked  if  he  had  any  witnesses, 
made  a  few  remarks  and  requested  that  Mr.  Croker 
and  other  witnesses  with  whom  he  was  acquainted, 
might  be  called  and  sworn. 

Prisoner.  As  I  have  lodged  at  your  house  for  some 
time,  you  can  best  give  an  account  of  my  manner  of 
life  and  conversation  ;  and  pray  first  inform  the  king's 
judges  and  the  jury,  if  you  ever  saw  any  negroes  come 
after  me. 

Croker.  No,  I  never  saw  any  negroes  come  after 
you. 

Prisoner.  Pray  give  an  account  of  what  you  know 
of  me. 

Croker.  Mr.  Ury  came  to  my  house  the  summer 
before  last,  and  staid  a  week  ;  he  then  returned  to 
Burlington,  and  came  back  last  November,  and  said, 
he  was  going  further ;  but  I  prevailed  upon  him  to 


236  AMERICAN   TRIALS. 

stay,  to  teach  my  son  Latin,  for  which  I  was  to  give 
him  his  lodging  and  diet.  Some  time  ago  he  went  to 
Staten  Island,  and  preached  there,  and  said  he  was 
paid  for  it.  He  lodged  at  my  house  from  November 
till  a  little  before  Campbell  took  Hughson's  house ; 
and  while  he  was  with  me,  he  kept  pretty  good  hours  ; 
sometimes  he  came  home  by  eight,  or  nine,  or  ten 
o'clock,  and  sometimes  staid  out  till  eleven  or  twelve 
at  night.  He  once  went  to  Brunswick  this  spring, 
before  the  fort  was  burnt,  as  I  heard,  or  else  I  do 
not  know  that  he  lay  out  of  my  house.  Once  talking 
of  negroes,  I  heard,  him  say,  he  did  not  think  them 
proper  objects  of  salvation.  He  used  to  go  up  stairs 
sometimes,  light  a  candle  in  the  day  time,  and  lock 
himself  up  in  a  room  alone. 

Attorney  General.  Pray,  Mr.  Croker,  was  you  in 
town  all  the  time  he  lodged  at  your  house  ? 

Croker.     No,  I  have  been  out  for  a  day  or  so. 

"  Pray,  Mr.  Croker,  what  hours  did  the  prisoner 
usually  come  home  at  ? " 

"  Sometimes  sooner  and  sometimes  later :  I  have 
known  him  stay  out  sometimes  till  eleven  or  twelve 
o'clock,  once  or  twice  later ;  I  asked  him  why  he 
staid  so  late,  and  where  he  had  been  ?  he  commonly 
told  me  he  had  been  at  Mr.  Webb's  ;  and  sometimes 
at  some  other  private  houses." 

"  When  did  Ury  come  to  lodge  at  your  house,  and 
when  did  he  leave  it  ? 

"  He  came  to  my  house  in  November  last,  and  left 
it  a  little  before  Campbell  went  to  live  at  Hughson's 
house." 

"  Have  you  ever  heard  him  preach  ?  " 


NEW    YORK    NEGRO    PLOT.  <237 

"  Yes,  once,  and  he  then  said,  he  was  to  preach 
again  the  next  Sunday ;  and  in  his  prayer  before 
sermon,  he  prayed  for  his  majesty  king  George,  and 
all  the  royal  family." 

Joseph  Webb.  I  have  known  Mr.  Ury  since  No- 
vember last ;  I  was  then  at  work  at  John  Croker's,  at 
the  Fighting  Cocks,  and  hearing  him  reading  Latin 
and  English,  and  thinking  he  read  well,  I  inquired  of 
Croker  who  he  was  ?  He  told  me  he  was  a  school- 
master lately  come  from  Philadelphia ;  and  from  this 
I  became  acquainted  with  him,  and  asked  him  if 
he  would  teach  a  child  of  mine  ;  he  said  he  would,  if 
Croker  would  give  him  the  liberty  of  coming  to  his 
house,  which  Croker  agreed  to,  and  I  sent  my  child 
to  him,  and  he  taught  him  Latin.  After  this  I  re- 
commended him  to  Colonel  Beekman,  to  teach  his 
daughter  to  write  and  cipher  ;  and  growing  more  inti- 
mate with  him,  I  observed  the  poor  and  mean  appear- 
ance in  his  habit,  and  I  thought  his  pocket  might  be 
answerable  to  it ;  I  gave  him  an  invitation  to  my 
house,  and  told  him  he  should  be  welcome  at  my  ta- 
ble noon  and  night,  at  any  time,  when  he  saw  pro- 
per ;  he  frequently  came  to  my  house  accordingly,  all 
the  winter  after.  He  used  often  to  stay  at  my  house 
late  in  discoursing,  sometimes  on  one  subject,  some- 
times on  another,  and  has  staid  there,  now  and  then, 
till  eleven  or  twelve  at  night,  and  I  have  often  gone 
home  with  him  to  his  lodging  at  those  hours.  Mr. 
Ury  told  me  he  was  a  non-juring  minister ;  having 
asked  him,  who  ordained  him,  he  answered  me,  the 
senior  non-juror  in  England :  I  have  heard  him 
preach,  and  have  heard  him  say,  such  a  day  was  his 
sacrament  day,  and  he  must  be  at  sacrament. 


238  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

Attorney  General.  Did  he  say  he  must  take  the 
sacrament,  or  be  at  the  sacrament,  or  administer  the 
sacrament  ? 

Webb.  I  cannot  be  sure,  but  I  remember  he  said, 
it  was  his  sacrament  day. 

"  Was  it  Sundays  or  working  days  he  said  were 
his  sacrament  days  ? " 

"  I  cannot  be  sure,  but  I  think  I  have  heard  him 
name  both." 

"  Do  you  know  any  thing  of  his  buying  of  wafers, 
or  going  to  a  confectioner's  ?  " 

"  He  asked  me  for  a  confectioner's  shop,  and  I 
showed  him  Mr.  De  Brosse's,  where  he  went  along 
with  me  ;  and  after  he  asked  for  several  sorts  of 
sweet  meats,  he  asked  for  wafers  ;  which  being  shown 
to  him,  he  asked  Mr.  De  Brosse  if  he  made  wafers 
for  the  Lutheran  minister,  and  he  was  told  he  did, 
but  I  do  not  remember  that  he  bought  any  of  them : 
I  have  heard  him  pray  and  preach  several  times,  but 
don't  remember  that  ever  I  heard  him  pray  for  king 
George,  but  in  general  terms  for  the  king.  I  am 
by  trade  a  carpenter,  and  Ury  applied  to  me  to 
make  him  up  something  in  Hughson's  house,  which 
I  have  heard  since  called  an  altar.  Ury  gave  me 
directions  for  making  it,  and  said,  it  was  a  place  to 
lay  books  on  to  read,  or  to  put  a  candle  or  a  bottle  and 
glass  on,  or  other  such  like  common  uses  ;  it  was  two 
pieces  of  board,  which  formed  a  triangle,  and  was 
raised  against  the  wall,  at  the  bottom  of  which  was 
a  shelf;  on  each  side  there  was  a  place  to  hold  a 
candle." 

"  Do  you  think  if  a  man  wanted  a  shelf  or  other 


NEW  YORK  NEGRO  PLOT.  239 

place  to  lay  a  book  on  to  read,  or  set  a  bottle  or 
glass  on,  he  would  make  it  in  that  form  ? " 

"  I  can't  say ;  people  may  have  odd  humors,  but  I 
should  not." 

"  When  you  made  it,  what  did  you  take  it  for  ? " 

"  I  can't  say  ;  I  followed  his  directions." 

"  Do  you  know  any  thing  of  Ury's  being  impris- 
oned in  England  ? " 

"  Ury  did  tell  me  that  he  was  imprisoned  in  Eng- 
land ;  he  said  he  wrote  a  book  there,  and  that  the 
critics  laid  hold  of  it,  picked  a  hole  in  it  and  con- 
strued it  treason ;  but  if  it  was,  he  said,  it  was  con- 
trary to  his  intentions." 

"  Mr.  Webb,  in  your  conversations  together,  what 
have  you  heard  him  say  about  negroes  ?  " 

"  We  were  one  day  talking  about  negroes,  and  I 
said,  I  thought  they  had  souls  to  be  saved  or  lost  as 
well  as  other  people  ;  Ury  said,  he  thought  they 
were  not  proper  objects  of  salvation  ;  I  replied,  what 
would  you  do  with  them,  would  you  damn  them  all  ? 
No,  says  he,  leave  them  to  that  Great  Being  that  has 
made  them,  he  knows  best  what  to  do  with  them; 
says  he,  they  are  of  a  slavish  nature,  it  is  the  nature 
of  them  to  be  slaves,  give  them  learning,  do  them  all 
the  good  you  can,  and  put  them  beyond  the  condi- 
tion of  slaves,  and  in  return,  they  will  cut  your 
throats." 

John  Campbell  and  Ann  Campbell,  his  wife,  were 
then  called  and  sworn. 

Prisoner.  Mr.  Campbell,  did  you  ever  see  me  at 
Hughson's  house  before  I  went  there  with  you,  and 
what  passed  there? 


240  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

John  Campbell.  I  never  saw  him  there  till  I  went 
to  take  possession  of  the  house  at  May  day  last,  and 
then  as  we  were  going  there  together,  he  said,  he  did 
not  know  the  way  thither  ;  and  when  we  came  down, 
he  took  Gerardus  Comfort's  house  for  it ;  as  for  any 
thing  else,  I  know  nothing  more  of  him,  for  I  took 
him  for  a  grave,  sober,  honest  man. 

Prisoner.  Mrs.  Campbell,  will  you  please  to  give 
an  account  of  what  you  know  of  me,  and  what 
passed  between  Sarah  Hughson  and  me,  when  we 
went  to  take  possession  of  the  house. 

Ann  Campbell.  I  went  with  my  husband  and  Mr. 
Ury,  on  May  day  last,  to  Hughson's  to  take  posses- 
sion of  the  house ;  and  when  we  came  there,  Sarah 
Hughson,  the  daughter,  was  in  possession.  We  told 
her  she  must  go  out  of  the  house ;  for  that  my 
husband  had  taken  it :  whereupon  Sarah  Hughson 
swore  and  cursed  at  me ;  and  Mr.  Ury  said  to  her, 
"  how  dare  you  talk  so  impertinently  and  saucily  to 
an  old  woman,  you  impudent  hussy?  go  out  of  the 
house,  or  I  '11  turn  you  out :  "  Sarah  then  swore  mis- 
erably, and  said,  "  you  have  a  house  now,  but  shall 
not  have  one  long."  I  have  often  heard  him  pray 
and  sing  psalms  ;  and  he  prayed  by  a  sick  woman. 
I  never  saw  any  harm  by  him  ;  my  husband  and  he 
were  to  keep  school  together. 

Court.     Will  you  ask  them  any  more  questions  ? 

Prisoner.     No,  sir,  I  have  nothing  more. 

Attorney  General.  If  your  honors  please,  as  the 
prisoner  has  been  now  endeavoring  to  prove  he  is  not 
a  Romish  priest,  and  has  already  insisted  on  it  as  a 
part  of  his  defence  ;  I  shall  beg  leave  to  examine  a 
witness  to  that  point. 


NEW    YORK    NEGRO    PLOT.  241 

Court.     Call  him  then,  Mr.  Attorney. 

Joseph  Hildreth,  schoolmaster,  was  then  called  and 
sworn. 

Attorney  General.  Mr.  Hildreth,  will  you  give  an 
account  of  what  you  know  of  the  prisoner,  how  you 
became  acquainted  with  him,  and  what  has  passed 
between  him  and  you  in  conversation  from  time  to 
time. 

Hildreth.1  The  way  I  came  to  hear  of,  or  know 
this  Mr.  Ury,  was,  that  last  winter  some  time  in  Feb- 
ruary, I  happened  to  be  in  company  with  a  friend  at 
Mr.  Croker's,  and  Mr.  Webb,  joiner,  called  me  aside, 
asked  me  what  school  I  had  ;  and  if  I  would  incline 
to  take  a  partner,  one  very  well  versed  in  the  English, 
Latin  and  Greek  tongues?  I  answered  him,  what 
school  I  had  I  could  very  well  manage  myself ;  I  had 
no  inclination  for  a  partner  at  all.  He  said  he  was  a 
good  sober  sort  of  a  man,  and  understood  his  busi- 
ness very  well,  and  if  we  could  agree,  he  did  not 
doubt  but  it  would  do  very  well.  I  answered  him, 
I  inclined  to  be  master  of  my  own  school  alone, 
though  it  was  not  so  large  as  if  I  had  a  partner. 
He,  seeing  I  had  no  inclination  for  him,  did  not  tell 
me  who  he  was.  Some  time  after,  about  seven  or 
eight  weeks,  I  had  a  little  business  on  board  captain 
Griffith's,  where  I  met  with  him  and  Webb  in  com- 
pany, which  was  the  first  time  I  ever  spoke  to  him  ; 
then,  after  our  salutation  of  each  other,  he  began  to 
ask  me  some  questions  concerning  my  school  and 


1  This  witness,  apparently  a  rival  schoolmaster,  had  bis  evidence 
committed  to  writing. 
21 


242  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

method  of  teaching ;  after  which  we  stepped  in  at 
Baker's,  and  took  a  serious  glass  together ;  at  which 
time  he  took  a  small  book  out  of  his  pocket,  (English 
and  Latin)  and  construed  (I  think)  the  1 17th  Psalm ; 
then  laying  the  book  on  the  table,  I  took  it  up,  and 
was  going  to  look  on  the  title  page,  but  he  directly 
seized  it  out  of  my  hands,  and  told  me  I  must  not 
look  into  it,  and  put  it  in  his  pocket. 

Another  time,  at  my  school,  I  had  some  discourse 
with  him  concerning  Mr.  Whitefield's  letter  in  answer 
to  Mr.  Wesley's  sermon  on  free  grace ;  which  let- 
ter he  did  not  approve  of  at  all,  and  told  me,  he  be- 
lieved it  was  through  the  great  encouragement  the 
negroes  had  received  from  Mr.  Whitefield,  we  had  all 
this  disturbance  ;  and  that  he  believed  Mr.  White- 
field  was  more  of  a  Roman  than  any  thing  else  ;  and 
he  believed  he  came  abroad  with  no  good  design. 
Then  I  asked  him  what  was  the  signification  of  a 
non-juror,  as  I  understood  he  pretended  to  be  ?  And 
he  answered,  those  that  would  not  take  the  oaths 
of  allegiance,  as  he  did  not.  I  asked  him  why? 
Says  he,  "  can  you  swear  one  to  be  a  bastard  ? " 
"  No."  "  No  more  can  they  say  king  James  was 
one  ;  and  the  difference  between  us  non-jurors  and 
others  is  this :  we,  in  the  prayer  for  the  king  and 
royal  family,  mention  no  names,  as  they  do."  I  ask- 
ed him  if  they  prayed  for  the  pretender  ?  he  said, 
for  him,  let  him  be  who  he  will,  that  was  the  king ; 
he  mentioned  no  names. 

At  another  time,  he  said,  "  you  talk  so  much 
against  popery,  I  believe  though  you  speak  so  much 
against  it,  you  will  find  you  have  (or  I  think  will 


NEW  YORK  NEGRO  PLOT.  243 

have)  a  pope  in  your  belly  ;  for,"  says  he,  "  the  abso- 
lution of  the  church  of  Rome  is  not  half  so  bad  as  that 
of  the  church  of  England  at  the  visitation  of  the  sick." 
"  But,"  says  I,  "  I  don't  approve  of  their  confessing 
to  priests."  Says  I,  "  there  is  a  deal  of  wickedness 
and  deceit  in  it."  Says  he,  "  no,  no  ;  for  when  any 
person  makes  confessions,  the  priest  does  not  know 
who  they  be ;  for  he  does  not  so  much  as  see  them, 
but  only  hears  and  absolves  them."  "  Then,"  says  I, 
"  I  was  mistaken."  "  Oh  !  "  says  he,  "  they  speak 
against  the  church  of  Rome,  but  don't  know  them ; 
their  priests  are  the  most  learned  of  men  ;  the  articles 
of  the  church  of  England  were  made  in  distracted 
times."  And  I  observed  several  times  he  said,  "  we 
priests."  Says  he,  "  your  Roman  priests  will  make 
you  believe,  and  prove  by  the  plain  rules  of  grammar, 
that  black  is  white,  and  white  black,  and  that  the 
wafer  and  wine  is  the  real  body  and  blood  of  Christ." 

We  were  often  in  company ;  but  the  best  part  of 
our  discourse  was  upon  salvation  by  faith  alone, 
which  he  would  not  allow,  nor  predestination ;  and 
he  told  me,  he  really  believed  the  moon  to  be  an  in- 
habited planet,  and  all  the  stars  were  inhabited ;  or 
else,  says  he,  I  would  not  repeat  that  part  of  the 
Nicene  creed,  "  begotten  of  his  Father  before  all 
worlds  ; "  and,  says  he,  many  texts  of  scripture  con- 
firm it  to  be  so. 

I  was  several  times  since  in  his  company,  but  do 
not  remember  any  thing  in  particular  relating  to 
priests ;  but  the  last  time  I  had  any  thing  of  dis- 
course was  about  two  days  before  I  heard  him 
preach,  and  then  in  his  room ;  seeing  the  altar  placed 


244  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

in  the  corner,  I  asked  him  what  use  that  was  for  ? 
first,  he  said,  only  to  lay  books  on,  or  for  a  candle  to 
sit  and  read  by ;  but  I  told  him  I  could  not  think  it, 
for  I  supposed  it  for  the  sacrament  by  its  form  and 
odd  color ;  I  begged  him  to  let  me  know  what  it 
was ;  so  after  some  time  he  seriously  told  me,  it  was 
for  the  sacrament ;  and  he  told  me,  I  think,  every 
saint's  day  it  was  exposed,  only  covered  with  a  piece 
of  white  linen  ;  and  that  he  administered  on  some 
proper  days ;  and  he  told  me,  they  received  the  wa- 
fer instead  of  bread,  and  white  instead  of  red  wine. 
I  asked,  why  the  wafer  ?  Because,  says  he,  the  wa- 
fer is  more  pure  ;  and  no  bread  he  thought  pure 
enough  to  represent  the  body  of  our  Lord ;  then  go- 
ing to  his  small  box,  says  he,  I  '11  get  a  piece  and 
you  shall  taste  it  if  you  will ;  and  he  brought  me  a 
piece,  and  I  took  and  eat  it. 

I  think  he  told  me,  that  some  time  before  he  had 
baptized  a  child  in  the  house,  but  they  used  more 
ceremonies  than  we  ;  and  he  talked  as  if  they  anoint- 
ed and  washed  one  another's  feet.  He  told  me  fur- 
ther, that  at  the  time  of  the  celebration,  or  at  what 
time  the  sacrament  was  exposed,  they  had  lighted 
candles  burning  to  represent  our  Savior  as  the  light  of 
the  world.  And  when  I  came  in  to  hear  him  preach, 
I  accordingly  saw  it  as  he  told  me  ;  for  he  told 
me  before,  that  if  I  came  on  Sunday  evening  to  hear 
him,  I  could  see  it ;  for  the  sacrament  was  on  the 
altar  covered  with  a  white  linen  cloth,  and  there 
were  three  candles  burning ;  but  not  a  minute  after 
I  came  in,  he  put  out  the  candles,  and  put  his  sacra- 
ment in  his  box,  and  locked  them  up. 


NEW  YORK  NEGRO  PLOT.  245 

The  prisoner  addressed  the  court  and  jury  at  con- 
siderable length,  and  with  much  ability.  He  did  not 
venture  to  deny,  that  there  had  been  a  conspiracy, 
but  pointed  out  the  absurdity  of  supposing  that  he 
was  concerned  in  it.  Could  any  one  believe,  that  he 
would  have  remained  in  the  city  so  long  after  the 
discovery  of  the  plot  if  he  were  guilty ;  especially 
as  he  had  been  warned  many  days  previous  to  his 
arrest,  that  he  was  regarded  with  jealousy,  there  be- 
ing suspicions  that  he  was  a  priest?  He  averred 
that  the  suspicion  of  his  being  a  priest  was  the  cause 
of  his  being  accused ;  but  was  it  probable  that  the 
principal  actors  in  this  plot  would  entrust  it  to  men 
of  learning  like  priests,  or  that  the  latter  would  be- 
come the  associates  of  slaves  in  such  a  nefarious  de- 
sign as  that  of  which  he  was  accused  ?  In  regard  to 
the  positive  testimony  of  the  witnesses,  he  contended 
that  they  were  not  entitled  to  belief.  If  he  was  at 
the  bottom  of  this  plot,  or  the  chief  actor  in  it,  why 
had  they  not  before  proclaimed  it  ?  Why  had  they 
maintained  silence  for  several  months  until  a  large 
number  had  actually  been  hanged  ?  His  name  had 
never  been  whispered  by  the  informers  until  very  re- 
cently ;  their  evidence  was  evidently  made  up  to  suit 
the  popular  cry  against  popery.  Besides  all  this,  he 
formerly  had  a  difficulty  with  Sarah  Hughson,  one  of 
the  witnesses,  in  consequence  of  his  reproving  her 
for  bad  language,  and  she  had  threatened  his  life. 
Was  her  evidence,  under  these  circumstances,  to  be 
used  against  him  ? 

In  regard  to"  the  second  indictment,  that  he  was  a 
Romish  priest,  he  insisted  that  there  was  no  evidence 
21* 


246  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

of  it  whatever ;  and  he  went  into  a  particular  exami- 
nation of  the  evidence  upon  that  point,  concluding  as 
follows :  "  Gentlemen,  the  mistake  the  major  part  of 
the  world  lies  under  is,  their  apprehending  that  a 
non-juring  priest  must  be  a  popish  priest ;  whereas 
there  are  no  truer  protestants,  for  they  are  far  from 
having  any  regard  to  a  pretender,  or  for  setting  on 
the  throne  a  popish  prince  to  be  the  head  of  a  pro- 
testanj  church.  The  doctrine  they  assert  and  stand 
by  is  non-resistance  and  passive  obedience,  which  is 
now  as  vigorously  maintained  as  ever  it  was  in  any 
reign.  And  I  believe  there  is  no  non-juror,  either 
clergy  or  laity,  but  would  show  themselves  such  true 
subjects  to  the  present  king  George,  as  to  take  the 
oaths  of  allegiance  and  supremacy.  I  have  now  no 
more  to  say,  but  hope  and  pray,  that  what  has  been 
offered  will  be  considered  with  minds  unprejudiced, 
minds  prepossessed  with  no  opinions,  with  minds  in 
a  diligent  search  after  truth.  You  being  gentlemen, 
I  hope,  fearing  God,  reverencing  conscience,  hating 
partiality,  lovers  of  truth  and  innocency,  and  having 
a  tender  regard  to  life."  ' 

The  counsel  for  the  king  then  made  a  long  and 
excited  speech  against  the  prisoner,  much  of  which 
consisted  of  invectives  against  the  Roman  Catholic 
religion  in  general :  "  The  monstrous  wickedness  of 

1  Horsemanden  is  unwilling  to  admit  that  Ury  was  a  man  of 
education,  and  in  proof  of  it,  he  prints  his  speech  from  the  original 
draft  without  punctuation.  The  historian  admits  that  the  prisoner, 
when  he  delivered  up  the  paper,  apologized  that  it  was  written 
without  "  stops  or  pointing;"  and  adds,  "those  who  were  some- 
what acquainted  with  the  man  were  of  opinion,  he  was  not  very 
capable  of  making  them." 


NEW  YORK  NEGRO  PLOT.  247 

this  plot,"  he  exclaimed,  "  would  probably  among 
strangers  impeach  its  credit ;  but  if  it  be  considered 
as  the  contrivance  of  the  public  enemy,  and  the  inhu- 
man dictate  of  a  bloody  religion,  the  wonder  ceases. 
What  more  cruel  and  unnatural  can  be  conceived, 
than  what  Rome  has  contrived ;  yea,  what  more 
savage  and  barbarous,  than  what  popery  has  attempt- 
ed, and  sometimes  executed,  for  the  extirpation  of 
that  which  the  papists  call  heresy  ?  We  need  not  go 
so  far  from  home  as  the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  nor  rake 
into  the  ashes  of  the  Waldenses  and  Albigenses,  for 
tragical  instances  of  popish  cruelty.  We  need  not 
remind  you  of  the  massacre  at  Paris,  nor  the  later  deso- 
lations in  France,  nor  mention  the  horrible  slaughters 
of  the  duke  d'Alva  in  the  low  countries.  We  need 
not  recount  the  many  millions  of  lives,  that  in  remote 
countries,  and  different  ages,  have  been  sacrificed  to 
the  Roman  idol ;  nor  measure  out  to  you,  that  ocean  of 
foreign  blood  with  which  the  scarlet  whore  hath  made 
herself  perpetually  drunk.  No,  gentlemen,  the  histo- 
ries of  our  native  country  will  give  us  a  formidable 
idea  of  popery  ;  and  inform  us  of  the  detestable  prin- 
ciples of  that  religion  ;  witness  the  blood  of  our  own 
martyrs,  who  perished  in  prisons  and  at  the  stake, 
without  beginning  higher  than  my  lord  Cobham,  and 
recounting  their  number  down  to  the  end  of  queen 
Mary's  reign.  Witness  that  execrable  design  to  blow 
up  king,  lords,  and  commons,  in  the  gunpowder  trea- 
son, contrived  by  the  papists ;  that  intestine  fire  that 
broke  out  in  the  late  unnatural  civil  war,  the  coals 
whereof  were  blown  up  by  them  ;  the  bloody  mas- 
sacre of  many  thousands  of  protestants  by  the  Irish 


248  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

papists,  about  the  same  time ;  the  restless  spirit  of 
that  party,  which  has  broke  out  in  plots  in  almost 
every  reign  since  the  reformation ;  the  arbitrary 
and  illegal  measures  that  preceded  the  glorious  revo- 
lution ;  and  the  unnatural  rebellion  within  our  mem- 
ory. These  are  all  evidences  of  the  destructive  ten- 
dency of  that  bloody  religion,  which,  in  order  to 
promote  its  interests,  never  boggles  at  the  vilest 
means,  can  sanctify  the  most  execrable  villanies ; 
and,  to  encourage  its  votaries,  will  cannonize  for 
saints  a  Guy  Faux  and  others,  some  of  the  greatest 
monsters  of  iniquity  that  ever  trod  upon  the  face  of 
the  earth ! " 

The  jury  were  out  but  fifteen  minutes  and  found 
the  prisoner  guilty.  When  he  was  asked  whether 
he  had  any  thing  to  say  in  arrest  of  judgment,  or 
why  sentence  of  death  should  not  be  passed  upon 
him,  he  answered  that  he  had  nothing  to  say,  but  re- 
quested as  much  time  as  could  be  allowed  him  to 
settle  his  private  affairs.  He  was  executed  on  Satur- 
day, the  twenty-ninth  of  August,  1741.  Arrived  at 
the  place  of  execution,  he  addressed  the  crowd  from 
the  gallows,  immediately  before  he  suffered,  as  fol- 
lows : 

Fellow  Christians,  I  am  now  about  to  suffer  a  death, 
attended  with  ignominy  and  pain ;  but  it  is  the  cup 
that  my  heavenly  father  has  put  into  my  hand,  and 
I  drink  it  with  pleasure  ;  it  is  the  cross  of  my  dear 
redeemer,  I  bear  it  with  alacrity,  knowing  that  all 
that  live  godly  in  Christ  Jesus,  must  suffer  persecu- 
tion ;  and  we  must  be  made  in  some  degree  partakers 
of  his  sufferings,  before  we  can  share  in  the  glories 


NEW  YORK  NEGRO  PLOT.  249 

of  his  resurrection  ;  for  he  went  not  up  to  glory  be- 
fore he  ascended  mount  Calvary ;  he  did  not  wear 
the  crown  of  glory  before  the  crown  of  thorns.  I  am 
to  appear  before  an  awful  and  tremendous  God,  a 
being  of  infinite  purity  and  unerring  justice ;  a  God 
who  by  no  means  will  clear  the  guilty,  that  cannot 
be  reconciled  either  to  sin  or  sinners ;  in  the  pres- 
ence of  that  God,  the  possessor  of  heaven  and  earth, 
I  lift  up  my  hands,  and  solemnly  protest,  I  am  inno- 
cent of  what  is  laid  to  my  charge.  I  appeal  to  the 
great  God  for  my  non-knowledge  of  Hughson,  his 
wife,  or  the  creature  that  was  hanged  with  them. 
I  never  saw  them  living,  dying,  or  dead  ;  nor  ever 
had  I  any  knowledge  or  confederacy  with  white  or 
black,  as  to  any  plot :  and,  upon  the  memorials  of 
the  body  and  blood  of  my  dearest  Lord,  in  the  crea- 
tures of  bread  and  wine,  in  which  I  have  commemo- 
rated the  love  of  my  dying  Lord,  I  protest  that  the 
witnessess  are  perjured ;  I  never  knew  them  but  at 
my  trial.  But  for  a  removal  of  all  scruples  that  may 
arise  after  my  death,  I  shall  give  my  thoughts  on 
some  points. 

First,  I  firmly  believe  and  attest,  that  it  is  not  in 
the  power  of  man  to  forgive  sin  ;  that  it  is  the  pre- 
rogative only  of  the  great  God  to  dispense  pardon 
for  sin ;  and  that  those  who  dare  pretend  to  such  a 
power,  do  in  some  degree  commit  that  great  and  un- 
pardonable sin,  the  sin  against  the  holy  spirit ;  be- 
cause they  pretend  to  that  power  which  their  own 
consciences  proclaim  to  be  a  lie. 

Again,  I  solemnly  attest  and  believe,  that  a  per- 
son having  committed  crimes  that  have  or  might 


250  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

have  proved  hurtful  or  destructive  to  the  peace  of 
society,  and  does  not  discover  the  whole  scheme, 
and  all  the  persons  concerned  with  him,  cannot  ob- 
tain pardon  from  God.  And  it  is  not  the  taking  any 
oath  or  oaths  that  ought  to  hinder  him  from  confess- 
ing his  guilt,  and  all  that  he  knows  about  it ;  for 
such  obligations  are  not  only  sinful,  but  unpardona- 
ble, if  not  broken.  Now  a  person  firmly  believing 
this,  and  knowing  that  an  eternal  state  of  happiness 
or  misery  depends  upon  the  performance  or  non-per- 
formance of  the  abovementioned  things,  cannot,  will 
not  trifle  with  such  important  affairs. 

I  have  no  more  to  say  by  way  of  clearing  my  inno- 
cency,  knowing  that  to  a  true,  Christian,  unpreju- 
diced mind,  I  must  appear  guiltless  ;  but,  however,  I 
am  not  very  solicitous  about  it.  I  rejoice,  and  it  is 
now  my  comfort  (and  that  will  support  me  and  pro- 
tect me  from  the  crowd  of  evil  spirits  that  I  must 
meet  with  in  my  flight  to  the  region  of  bliss  assigned 
me)  that  my  conscience  speaks  peace  to  me.  Indeed, 
it  may  be  shocking  to  some  serious  Christians,  that 
the  holy  God  should  suffer  innocency  to  be  slain  by 
the  hands  of  cruel  and  bloody  persons  (I  mean  the 
witnesses  who  swore  against  me  at  my  trial.)  indeed, 
there  may  be  reasons  assigned  for  it,  but  as  they  may 
be  liable  to  objections,  I  decline  them  ;  and  shall 
only  say,  that  this  is  one  of  the  dark  providences  of 
the  great  God,  in  his  wise,  just,  and  good  government 
of  this  lower  world. 

In  fine,  I  depart  this  waste,  this  howling  wilder- 
ness, with  a  mind  serene,  free  from  all  malice,  with  a 
forgiving  spirit,  so  far  as  the  gospel  of  my  dear  and 


NEW  YORK  NEGRO  PLOT.  251 

only  redeemer  obliges  and  enjoins  me  to,  hoping  and 
praying  that  Jesus,  who  alone  is  the  giver  of  repent- 
ance, will  convince,  conquer  and  enlighten  my  mur- 
derers' souls,  that  they  may  publicly  confess  their 
horrid  wickedness  before  God  and  the  world,  so  that 
their  souls  may  be  saved  in  the  day  of  the  Lord 
Jesus. 

After  the  execution  of  Ury,  a  day  of  thanksgiving 
to  Almighty  God  was  observed,  by  public  command, 
"  for  the  deliverance  of  his  majesty's  subjects  here 
from  the  destruction  wherewith  they  were  so  gener- 
ally threatened  by  the  late  execrable  conspiracy." 
But  the  public  mind  was  at  rest  for  a  short  time  only. 
A  few  negroes  in  Queen's  county,  on  Long  Island, 
having  formed  themselves  into  a  military  company, 
for  amusement  on  the  Christmas  holidays,  a  letter 
was  written  to  the  authorities  there  by  the  attorney 
general,  and  the  slaves  were  severely  chastised  "  for 
this  daring  piece  of  insolence."  The  cry  of  a  new 
plot  was  immediately  raised,  which  resulted  in  the 
arrest  of  several  slaves,  one  of  whom  was  executed. 
The  excitement  soon  subsided,  however,  and  the 
prosecutions  were  becoming  unpopular,  more  espe- 
cially as  Mary  Burton,  the  common  informer,  began 
to  give  out  intimations  against  people  of  consequence 
in  the  city.  The  last  act  of  the  tragedy  was  the  pay- 
ment to  this  wretched  creature,  by  the  city  authori- 
ties, of  the  reward  of  one  hundred  pounds,  originally 
offered  to  any  one  who  would  disclose  the  plot. 

The  whole  number  of  persons  taken  into  custody 
on  suspicion  of  being  engaged  in  the  conspiracy  was 


252  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

over  one  hundred  ami  fifty.  Of  these,  four  white 
persons  were  hanged  ;  eleven  negroes  were  burnt, 
eighteen  were  hanged,  and  fifty  were  transported 
and  sold,  principally  in  the  West  Indies.  Several 
persons  who  were  suspected  made  their  escape  out 
of  the  colony. 

Thus  ended  the  famous  negro  plot  of  New  York. 
Upon  a  review  of  the  evidence,  as  reported  by  one 
jvho  had  implicit  faith  in  the  existence  of  a  con- 
spiracy to  burn  the  city  and  murder  the  inhabitants, 
we  have  no  difficulty  in  pronouncing  the  whole  thing 
to  have  been  a  complete  delusion.  The  numerous 
contradictions,  the  glaring  inconsistencies  of  the  wit- 
nesses, and  the  monstrous  perversions  of  law  and  evi- 
dence on  the  part  of  the  magistrates,  render  argu- 
ment upon  the  subject  entirely  unnecessary ;  and  it 
is  gratifying  to  know,  that  the  people  of  that  day  did 
not  all  of  them  approve  of  the  acts  of  folly,  injustice 
and  cruelty  with  which  this  supposed  conspiracy  was 
attended.  "  There  are,"  exclaims  the  historian  of 
the  plot,  "  some  wanton,  wrong-headed  persons,  who 
take  the  liberty  to  arraign  the  justice  of  the  proceed- 
ings, and  set  up  their  private  opinions  in  superiority 
to  the  court  and  grand  jury,  and  declare  with  no 
small  assurance,  that  there  was  no  plot  at  all ! " 

Nor  is  it  difficult  to  account  for  this  delusion.  It 
was  the  natural  result  of  the  condition  of  society  at 
that  day.  Domestic  slavery,  founded  in  wrong  and 
injustice,  must  always  be  attended  with  peculiar  evils, 
even  in  its  most  mitigated  form,  and  it  is  a  question  of 
no  easy  solution,  whether  the  master  or  the  slave  suf- 
fers most  from  its  influence.  Unrestrained  control 


NEW  YORK  NEGRO  PLOT.          253 

and  passive  submission  are  equally  injurious  to  the 
human  character.  While  the  slave  is  kept  at  the 
level  of  the  mere  brute,  the  master  finds  his  safety 
only  in  the  restraint  of  brute  force,  and  habits  of  dis- 
trust and  jealousy  are  naturally  engendered.  Servile 
insurrections,  the  most  dreadful  of  any  which  history 
records,  create  alarm  and  consternation,  which  no 
open  and  avowed  enemy  can  accomplish.  The  peo- 
ple feel  that  their  enemies  are  within  their  bosom. 
The  terror  of  each  man  becomes  a  source  of  terror 
to  every  other  ;  and,  an  universal  panic  being  diffused, 
reason  and  argument,  common  sense,  and  common 
humanity,  lose  all  their  influence. 

Domestic  slavery  had,  in  a  measure,  been  forced 
upon  the  American  colonies  against  their  will.  In 
New  York,  at  the  period  referred  to,  the  system  ex- 
isted in  its  least  mitigated  form,  and  the  severest 
laws  were  necessary  to  keep  the  slaves,  who  com- 
posed one  sixth  of  the  population,  in  subjection. 
They  could  not  be  witnesses  against  a  free  man ; 
they  were  incapable  of  purchasing  the  necessaries  of 
life ;  they  were  punishable  by  their  masters  to  any 
extent  short  of  life  or  limb  ;  as  often  as  three  of  them 
were  found  together,  they  were  punishable  with  forty 
lashes  on  the  bare  back,  and  the  same  legal  liability 
attended  the  walking  with  a  club  out  of  the  master's 
ground  without  a  permit ;  and  two  justices  might  inflict 
any  punishment  short  of  death  or  amputation,  for  a 
blow  or  the  smallest  assault  upon  a  Christian  or  a 
Jew.1 

1  Dunlap's  History  of  New  York,  i.  323. 
22 


254  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

Notwithstanding  these  severe  regulations,  the  slaves 
were  a  source  of  constant  anxiety  and  suspicion  to 
the  white  population.  While  the  people  were  in  this 
timorous  and  jealous  disposition,  the  cry  of  plot  all 
on  a  sudden  struck  their  ears  ;  they  were  awakened 
from  a  slumber,  and,  like  men  affrighted,  and  in  the 
dark,  they  took  every  figure  for  a  spectre. 


TRIAL  OF  JACOB  LEISLER 


BEFORE     A 


SPECIAL  COURT  OF  OYER  AND    TERMINER, 


FOR  HIGH  TREASON. 


NEW    YORK,  1691. 


The  proceedings  of  Jacob  Leisler  and  his  adherents,  which  dis- 
tracted the  province  of  New  York,  long  after  the  principal  actors 
in  the  scene  had  passed  from  the  stage,  form  a  prominent  topic  of 
remark  in  the  histories  of  the  period  referred  to.  Smith's  History 
of  New  York,  published  in  1732,  contains  a  brief  and  succinct  ac- 
count of  the  revolution,  commenced  by  Leisler,  and  its  conse- 
quences; but  Mr.  Dunlap,  in  his  late  history  of  that  state,  has 
given  a  more  detailed  statement,  in  which  some  new  facts  are 
evolved,  and  a  somewhat  different  impression  is  given  of  the  char- 
acter and  proceedings  of  Leisler,  than  is  received  from  the  works  of 
other  writers,  who  do  not  appear  to  have  examined  the  subject  with 
very  great  particularity.  I  am  not  aware  that  any  detailed  report 
of  the  trial  was  ever  printed,  and  of  the  actual  proceedings  on  that 
occasion  but  little  can  now  be  ascertained. 


LEISLER'S  REBELLION. 


accession  of  James  II.  to  the  throne  of  England, 
in  1685,  was  regarded  with  the  liveliest  satisfaction 
by  the  people  of  New  York,  who  had  reason  to  expect 
important  benefits  from  one,  whom  they  had  regarded 
as  their  friend  and  patron.  But  they  soon  found 
that  the  king  had  entirely  forgotten,  or  violated  with- 
out hesitation,  the  promises  he  had  made  under  the 
titles  of  York  and  Albany.  Their  disappointment 
was  the  greater,  as  it  soon  became  apparent  that 
James  was  determined  to  make  the  religion  of  Rome 
predominant  throughout  all  his  dominions.  His  big- 
otry prompted  him  to  deliver  up  the  Indians  of  the 
five  nations  to  the  influence  of  the  French  Jesuits, 
and  the  French  authorities  in  Canada  undertook  with 
great  zeal  to  chastise,  or  debauch  by  intrigue,  the 
tribes  who  had  preferred  the  English  alliance  to 
their  own. 

Dongan,  the  governor  of  New  York,  himself  a  Ro- 
22" 


258  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

man  catholic,  resisted  the  intrusion  of  the  French 
priests  into  the  settlements  of  the  Indians,  and,  having 
incurred  the  displeasure  of  his  royal  master,  through 
the  repeated  complaints  of  the  court  of  France,  he  was 
ordered  to  deliver  up  his  charge  to  Sir  Edmund  An- 
dros,  the  governor  of  Massachusetts.  New  York  was 
thus  subjected  to  the  rule  of  its  ancient  tyrant,  and 
the  people  were  mortified  at  the  annexation  of  the 
province  to  the  government  of  New  England. 

In  the  midst  of  these  discontents,  intelligence  was 
received  of  the  invasion  of  England  by  the  prince  of 
Orange,  and  of  the  accession  of  William  and  Mary 
to  the  throne.  Notwithstanding  the  government  of 
Andros  had  been  terminated  by  a  successful  insur- 
rection at  Boston,  the  local  authorities  of  New  York 
indicated  a  hesitation  to  comply  with  the  general 
revolution.  Nicholson,  the  lieutenant  governor,  re- 
fused to  proclaim  William  and  Mary,  and  even  des- 
patched a  letter  to  governor  Bradstreet,  at  Boston, 
commanding  the  instant  release  of  Andros,  and  the 
suppression  of  the  insurrectionary  rabble,  who  had 
presumed  to  put  him  in  confinement.  A  large  party 
broke  out  into  open  discontent  at  this  state  of  things, 
and  found  a  chief  in  Jacob  Leisler,  a  merchant  of  re- 
spectable standing,  and  a  zealous  friend  of  the  pro- 
testant  cause,  who  had  formerly  suffered  imprison- 
ment by  the  order  of  Andros,  for  opposing  one  of  his 
illegal  acts  while  governor  of  New  York. 

The  immediate  occasion  of  the  revolt  was  a  report 
in  May,  1689,  that  the  papists  intended  to  attack 
and  massacre  the  people  while  at  church  in  the  fort, 
and  declare  for  James  II.  The  people  assembled  in 


LEISLER'S  REBELLION.  259 

a  tumultuous  manner,  seized  upon  the  fort,  which 
the  five  captains  of  the  trainbands  agreed  to  keep, 
each  in  his  turn.  A  committee  of  safety  was  chosen 
for  the  immediate  government  of  the  province,  who 
signed  an  agreement  to  adhere  to  the  prince  of 
Orange,  and,  with  their  lives,  to  support  the  protest- 
ant  religion.  The  captains  of  militia  formed  a  part 
of  this  committee,  and  Leisler'  was  regarded  as  the 
principal  in  point  of  age,  standing,  and  mercantile 
credit.  Their  declaration,  published  to  the  world, 
avowed  their  purposes.  "  As  soon  as  the  bearer  of 
orders  from  the  prince  of  Orange  shall  let  us  see  his 
power,  then  without  delay  we  do  intend  to  obey,  not 
the  orders  only,  but  also  the  bearer  thereof." 

The  times  demanded  a  leader  who  possessed  the 
knowledge,  address,  and  firmness  of  a  veteran  states- 
man. Jacob  Leisler  had  none  of  these.  A  simple 
burgher  of  New  York,  his  education  and  knowledge 
of  the  world  were  not  such  as  to  fit  him  for  the  try- 
ing emergencies  in  which  he  was  placed.  In  assum- 
ing power,  he  rested  chiefly  for  his  support  upon  the 
less  educated  classes  of  the  Dutch ;  English  dissent- 
ers were  not  heartily  his  friends.  The  large  Dutch 
landholders,  many  of  the  English  merchants,  the 


'  Hutchinson  relates,  that  a  short  time  before  this  open  revolt, 
one  of  Leisler's  ships  arrived  in  New  York  with  wines,  on  which 
the  duties  amounted  to  one  hundred  pounds,  which  he  refused  to 
pay,  "  the  collector  being  a  papist,  and  there  being  no  legal  au- 
thority to  receive  it."  Soon  after,  he  excited  the  people  on  the 
east  end  of  Long  Island  to  march  to  New  York  to  obtain  possession 
of  the  fort,  to  prevent  its  being  delivered  up  to  foreigners.  When 
within  twelve  miles  of  the  city,  the  lieutenant  governor  induced 
them  to  return  to  their  homes. 


260  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

friends  of  the  English  church,  the  cabal  that  had 
grown  up  round  the  royal  governors,  were  his  wary 
and  unrelenting  opponents.  But  his  greatest  weak- 
ness was  in  himself.  Too  restless  to  obey,  and  too 
passionate  to  command ;  as  a  presbyterian  he  was 
averse  to  the  church  of  England ;  as  a  man  of  mid- 
dling fortunes  to  the  aristocracy  ;  while,  as  a  Dutch- 
man and  a  calvinist,  he  was  an  enthusiast  for  Wil- 
liam of  Orange.1 

Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  gave  countenance 
to  his  measures,  and  his  authority  was  soon  generally 
acknowledged  by  the  middle  and  lower  classes. 
Nicholson,  the  lieutenant  governor,  fled  to  England, 
and  Courtlandt,  the  mayor  of  the  city,  Colonel  Bay- 
ard, and  others  of  his  council,  "  gentlemen  of  figure," 
unable  to  brook  the  ascendancy  of  a  man,  "  mean  in 
his  abilities,  and  inferior  in  his  degree,"  retired  to 
Albany  and  seized  the  fort  there,  declaring  that 
they  held  it  for  William  and  Mary,  but  would  main- 
tain no  connexion  with  Leisler.  Each  party  now 
professed  allegiance  to  the  same  sovereign,  and  de- 
nounced the  other  as  rebels.  Leisler  sent  Milborne, 
his  son-in-law,  to  Albany  to  demand  the  surrender  of 
the  fort,  which  was  refused.  Afterwards  letters  were 
received  from  England,  addressed  to  Nicholson,  or, 
in  his  absence.,  to  "  such  as,  for  the  time  being,  take 
care  for  preserving  the  peace  and  administering  the 
law  "  in  New  York.  After  some  slight  hesitation  on 
the  part  of  the  messenger,  occasioned  by  the  attempts 
of  the  party  at  Albany  to  obtain  possession  of  the 

1  Bancroft's  History  of  the  United  States,  iii.  51. 


LEISLER'S  REBELLION.  261 

despatches,  they  were  delivered  to  Leisler.  They 
contained  a  commission  to  Nicholson,  "  to  do  every 
thing  appertaining  to  the  office  of  lieutenant  gover- 
nor, according  to  the  laws  and  customs  of  New  York 
until  further  orders."  Nicholson  having  left  the  pro- 
vince, Leisler  considered  the  commission  as  directed 
to  himself,  and  esteemed  his  authority  to  have  received 
the  royal  sanction.  By  advice  of  the  committee  of 
safety,  he  now  assumed  the  title  of  lieutenant  gover- 
nor. To  add  strength  to  his  party,  a  convention  was 
summoned  of  deputies  from  all  the  towns  to  which 
his  influence  extended,  and  various  regulations  were 
adopted  for  the  temporary  government  of  the  pro- 
vince. 

Bayard,  a  member  of  the  Albany  convention,  be- 
ing found  in  New  York,  was  arrested  and  imprisoned 
for  high  misdemeanors,  and  for  certain  libellous 
writings,  containing  "  execrable  lies  and  pernicious 
falsehoods."  The  convention  at  Albany  was  dis- 
solved, the  members  took  refuge  in  the  neighboring 
colonies,  and  there  was  soon  no  open  and  organized 
opposition  to  Leisler's  authority.  But  success  was 
more  dangerous  to  the  popular  chief  than  adversity. 
His  vindictive  rashness,  his  want  of  experience,  and 
more  than  all,  the  failure  of  some  of  his  important 
measures  of  government,  and  the  imposition  of  taxes, 
were  rendering  him  unpopular  with  the  people. 
"  Destitute  of  equanimity,  his  failure  was  inevitable." 
The  king  had  received  Leisler's  messenger  in  a  flat- 
tering manner ;  but  Nicholson,  who  had  arrived  in 
England,  contrived  to  poison  the  royal  ear  against 
the  man  who  first  raised  the  standard  of  the  revolu- 


262  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

tion  in  New  York,  and  Leisler  vainly  waited  for  any 
express  confirmation  of  his  power,  or  thanks  for  his 
efforts  in  the  cause  of  his  sovereign. 

Sloughter  was  appointed  governor  in  1689,  but  re- 
mained in  England  a  considerable  time  afterwards. 
Meanwhile,  Ingolsby,  who  bore  a  commission  as  cap- 
tain, arrived  in  New  York,  in  January,  1691,  in  the  ship 
Beaver.  He  announced  the  appointment  of  Sloughter 
as  governor,  and  called  for  a  surrender  of  the  fort. 
Leisler  demanded  to  see  his  commission,  or  order  from 
the  ministry  or  governor ;  he  refused  submission  to  a 
man  who  bore  no  letters  or  orders  from  England, 
and  issued  a  proclamation  that  on  the  arrival  of  the 
governor,  the  government  should  be  cheerfully  sur- 
rendered up  to  him.  Ingolsby  issued  a  counter  proc- 
lamation, and  besieged  the  fort.  Thus  the  aristo- 
cratic party,  the  determined  and  wary  enemies  of 
Leisler,  obtained  a  leader  in  an  officer  of  the  king. 

On  the  arrival  of  the  governor,  in  March,  1691,  he 
sent  Ingolsby  to  demand  the  surrender  of  the  fort. 
Leisler's  fears  for  his  safety,  or  his  love  of  power, 
overcame  his  prudence,  and  he  refused  to  obey,  thus 
giving  his  enemies  a  pretence  for  his  destruction, 
which  otherwise  they  would  have  vainly  sought  in  all 
his  acts.  A  second  demand  was  made,  but  Leisler 
knew  that  his  enemies  had  obtained  the  ear  of  the 
governor,  and,  in  the  effort  of  folly  and  despair  to 
secure  his  own  safety,  he  still  hesitated,  but  sent  mes- 
sengers to  the  governor,  who  were  immediately  seized 
as  rebels.  Leisler  now  abandoned  the  fort,  and  was 
seized  and  thrown  into  prison,  together  with  his  son- 
in-law  and  several  of  his  adherents. 


LEISLER'S  REBELLION.  263 

The  prisoners  were  immediately  brought  to  trial 
before  a  special  court  of  oyer  and  terminer.  Six  of 
the  inferior  insurgents  were  convicted  of  high  trea- 
son, and  were  subsequently  reprieved.  Leisler  and 
Milborne  denied  to  the  governor  the  power  to  institute 
a  tribunal  for  judging  his  predecessor,  and  vainly  ap- 
pealed to  the  king.  The  trials  proceeded  before  a 
tribunal,  erected  for  the  purpose  of  giving  the  sanc- 
tions of  the  law  to  the  determinations  of  power. 
Joseph  Dudley,1  the  chief  justice,  had  been  expelled 
from  Boston  by  the  same  general  revolution  to  which 
Leisler  owed  his  elevation.  How  could  the  latter 
expect  a  favorable  appreciation  of  his  conduct  from  a 
tribunal,  erected  by  his  enemies,  and  occupied  by  an 
exasperated  antagonist?  Refusing  to  plead  to  the 
charge  against  him,  he  was  convicted  by  the  jury, 
and  was  condemned  to  death,  with  Milbourne,  as  a 
rebel  and  a  traitor. 

The  governor  hesitated  to  destroy  the  men,  who 
first  raised  the  standard  of  William  of  Orange  and 
protestantism.  "Certainly  never  greater  villains 
lived,"  he  wrote  ;  but  he  "  resolved  to  wait  for  the 

1  He  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  and  held  several  offices  of 
trust  there.  He  was  a  judge  at  the  time  of  the  revolution  in  1689, 
when  he  was  imprisoned,  and  was  sent  to  England  with  Andros. 
In  the  following  year  he  was  appointed  chief  justice  of  New  York. 
He  was  subsequently  lieutenant  governor  of  the  isle  of  Wight,  and 
a  member  of  parliament.  He  returned  to  Boston  in  1702,  as  go- 
vernor of  Massachusetts.  No  citizen  of  New  England  enjoyed  so 
many  public  honors  and  offices.  He  was  a  learned  man,  and,  in 
private  life  was  amiable,  dignified,  and  elegant  in  his  manners. 
His  conduct  at  the  trial  of  Leisler  is  a  blot  on  his  character,  and 
was  the  ground  of  severe  charges  against  him  in  England.  He 
died  in  Koxbury,  Massachusetts,  in  1720,  at  the  age  of  70. 


264  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

royal  pleasure,  if  by  any  other  means  than  hanging 
he  could  keep  the  country  quiet."  But  the  enemies 
of  Leisler  were  bent  on  his  death.  They  invited 
Sloughter  to  a  feast,  and,  when  his  reason  was 
drowned  in  his  cups,  he  was  prevailed  on  to  sign  the 
death  warrant ;  before  he  recovered  his  senses,  the 
prisoners  were  executed. 

On  the  sixteenth  of  May,  1691,  amidst  a  drench- 
ing rain,  Leisler,  with  his  son-in-law,  Melbourne,  was 
led  to  the  gallows.  Parting  with  his  wife  Alice,  and 
his  numerous  family,  he  met  his  death  with  fortitude, 
and  as  became  a  Christian.  At  the  place  of  execu- 
tion, after  praise  to  God,  he  expressed  his  sense  of 
his  dying  state  and  submitted  himself  before  a  just  God 
with  humility  and  hope.  He  avowed,  that,  at  the 
request  of  a  committee,  chosen  by  the  major  part  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  province,  he  had  taken  upon 
him,  "  to  the  great  grief  of  relations  to  be  left  be- 
hind," weighty  matters  of  state,  "  requiring  a  more 
wise,  cunning,  and  powerful  pilot  to  govern  ;  "  an 
undertaking  for  which  his  motives  were  the  protestant 
interest,  and  the  establishment  of  the  government  of 
William  and  Mary.  It  was  true,  he  said,  that  in 
this  endeavor  for  the  public  good,  several  enormities 
had  been  committed  against  his  will.  He  had  longed 
to  see  a  governor  sent,  to  put  a  period  to  the  disor- 
ders existing ;  some  of  which,  on  his  part,  were  com- 
mitted through  ignorance,  some  through  jealous  fear, 
some  through  misinformation  and  misconstruction, 
and  some  through  rashness  or  passion.  For  all  his 
offences,  he  asked  pardon  of  God,  and  of  all  persons 
offended.  His  enemies  he  forgave,  and  prayed  that 
all  malice  might  be  buried  in  the  grave. 


LEISLER'S  REBELLION.  265 

He  enjoined  upon  his  friends  to  forget  any  injury 
done  to  him.  He  prayed  for  the  good  of  the  pro- 
vince, and,  as  his  last  words,  declared,  that,  as  to  the 
matter  for  which  he  was  condemned,  his  purpose 
was  for  the  good  of  his  fellow  creatures,  according 
to  the  understanding  and  ability  which  he  possessed, 
by  preventing  popery  and  upholding  the  government 
of  William  and  Mary.  He  concluded  a  prayer  for 
all  in  authority,  by  one  for  comfort  to  his  own  afflict- 
ed family ;  and  he  asked  for  them  the  charity  of  all, 
and  their  prayers  for  himself. 

Being  asked  by  the  sheriff  "  if  he  was  ready  ? " 
he  said  "  yes,"  and  requested  that  his  body  might 
be  delivered  to  his  wife ;  and,  as  his  family  had  been 
educated  as  Christians,  he  hoped  they  would  act  as 
such.  Turning  to  Milbourne,1  he  exclaimed,  "  why 
must  you  die  ?  you  have  been  but  as  a  servant,  doing 
my  will ;  and,  as  I  am  a  dying  man,  I  declare  before 
God  and  the  world,  that  what  I  have  done  was  for 
king  William  and  queen  Mary,  the  defence  of  the 
protestant  religion,  and  the  good  of  the  country." 
Having  again  professed  his  reliance  on  God,  he  sig- 
nified his  readiness  to  depart,  and  his  sufferings  were 
soon  ended. 

The  populace,  overawed  by  the  soldiers,  were 
dreadfully  agitated  by  this  painful  spectacle.  The 

1  Milbourne  had  not  the  patience  and  submission  of  his  father- 
in-law.  Seeing  Livingston,  one  of  his  enemies,  in  the  crowd,  he 
exclaimed:  "you  have  caused  my  death:  but,  before  God's  tribu- 
nal, I  will  implead  you  for  the  same."  Being  asked  whether  he 
would  not  bless  the  king  and  queen,  he  answered :  "  it  is  for  the 
king  and  queen  I  die,  and  for  the  protestant  religion." 
23 


266  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

shrieks  of  fainting  women  were  terrible  to  hear  ;  and 
the  torrents  of  rain  added  to  the  gloom  and  horror  of 
the  scene.  When  the  prisoner  was  dead,  his  gar- 
ments were  cut  in  pieces  by  the  crowd,  and  his  hair 
was  divided  as  the  precious  relics  of  a  martyr.  At 
the  same  hour,  and  in  the  same  town,  the  members 
of  the  council  and  the  judges  were  revelling  in 
beastly  triumph,  and  with  them  the  governor,  insensi- 
ble at  his  cups,  was  delayed  until  the  execution  was 
over! 

Thus  perished  Jacob  Leisler,  a  victim  to  party 
malignity.  The  first  to  raise  the  standard  of  Wil- 
liam and  Mary,  he  was  the  first  to  suffer  as  a  traitor. 
The  appeal  to  the  king,  which  had  been  denied  him 
during  his  life,  was  prosecuted  after  his  death  by  his 
son.  It  was  held  that  the  forms  of  law  had  not  been 
broken  in  the  condemnation,  but  his  estate  was  re- 
stored to  his  family,  and  an  act  of  parliament,  vainly 
resisted  by  the  judge  who  condemned  him  to  die, 
did  justice  to  his  memory  by  reversing  the  attainder. 
His  violence  and  incompetency  were  forgotten  in 
sympathy  for  the  injustice  of  his  death.  His  friends 
afterwards  formed  a  powerful  and  ultimately  a  suc- 
cessful party  ;  and  one  of  his  principal  enemies  was 
himself  condemned,  by  a  court  erected  for  the  occa- 
sion, as  a  rebel  and  a  traitor. 


TRIAL  OF   NICHOLAS  BAYARD 


BEFORE     A 


SPECIAL  COURT  OF  OYER  AND  TERMINER, 


FOR   HIGH   TREASON. 


NEW  YORK,  1702. 


The  trial  of  Colonel  Nicholas  Bayard,  at  New  York,  for  high 
treason,  in  1702,  appropriately  follows  the  preceding  account  of 
Jacob  Leisler's  case,  in  1691.  They  explain  each  other,  and  are 
both  singularly  illustrative  of  the  condition  of  the  province,  at  the 
periods  when  they  occurred,  distracted  as  it  was  by  two  rival  fac- 
tions, who  carried  their  dissentions  to  an  excess  which  has  no  par- 
allel in  this  country.  The  following  account  is  derived  from  stand- 
ard historical  works,  and  from  a  full  report  of  the  trial,  which  ap- 
pears to  have  been  prepared  by  Bayard  himself  or  some  of  his 
friends,  and  which  is  contained  in  the  fourteenth  volume  of  How- 
ell's  State  Trials.  There  is  no  reason  to  doubt  the  general  accu- 
racy of  that  report,  although  some  of  the  statements  in  it  should  be 
received  with  much  allowance.  The  trial,  as  reported,  gives  evi- 
dence of  great  learning,  research,  and  skill  on  the  part  of  the  pris- 
oner's counsel,  but  the  discussions  which  relate  to  mere  ques- 
tions of  abstract  law  are  here  omitted. 


COLONEL    BAYARD'S  TREASON. 


FOR  many  years  subsequent  to  the  accession  of  Wil- 
liam and  Mary  to  the  throne  of  England,  the  province 
of  New  York  was  agitated  by  a  strife  between  the 
rival  political  parties,  so  bitter,  that  the  rights  of  the 
defeated  were  grossly  violated,  and  they  were  not 
always  safe  in  their  liberty  and  their  lives.  Jacob 
Leisler  fell  a  victim  to  the  malignant  feelings  engen- 
dered by  these  contentions  in  1691  ;  and  the  pas- 
sions, excited  in  his  adherents  by  his  melancholy  fate, 
continued  long  to  distract  the  public  councils,  and  to 
embitter  the  social  intercourse  of  the  inhabitants  of 
the  province.  His  son,  Jacob,  unmindful  of  his 
father's  dying  request,  made  upon  the  gallows,  could 
never  forget  or  forgive  his  melancholy  death,  and  lost 
no  opportunity  to  vindicate  his  name,  and  to  cast 
odium  upon  those  who  had  been  instrumental  in  the 
wrongs  he  suffered  ;  nor  was  he  unsuccessful. 

The  "  people  of  figure,"  or  aristocratic  party,  main- 
23* 


270  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

tained  their  influence  with  those  in  power  until  the 
arrival  of  Lord  Bellamont  in  1698,  as  governor  of  the 
province.  The  sympathies  of  that  nobleman  had  been 
excited  in  England  by  young  Leisler,  in  favor  of  his 
adherents,  who  were  thus  favored  by  the  governor's 
countenance  and  support.  At  the  death  of  this  noble- 
man, in  1701,  the  ancient  animosities  of  the  rival  fac- 
tions were  revived  with  the  utmost  zeal  and  fury. 
Information  being  received  that  Lord  Cornbury  was 
to  succeed  the  Earl  of  Bellamont,  the  aristocratic 
party,  now  in  the  minority,  took  measures  to  secure 
the  new  governor  to  their  own  interests.  Nicholas 
Bayard  who  had  been  long  imprisoned  by  Leisler,  and 
was  instrumental  in  his  death,  procured  addresses  to 
be  signed  to  the  king,  to  the  parliament,  and  to  Corn- 
bury,  in  which  the  most  scandalous  charges  of  bribery, 
of  public  plunder  and  oppression,  were  preferred 
against  the  lieutenant  governor,  the  chief  justice, 'and 
the  assembly,  and  reflections  were  liberally  cast  upon 
the  memory  of  Lord  Bellamont  himself. 

When  this  came  to  the  knowledge  of  Nanfan,  the 
lieutenant  governor,  he  saw  that  Bayard  had  fallen 
into  a  pit  he  had  himself  prepared  for  others,  and 
committed  him  to  prison  as  a  traitor ;  for  that  parti- 
san had  procured  a  law  to  be  made  in  1691,  when 
Leisler  and  his  friends  were  devoted  to  ruin,  which 
provided,  that  whenever  any  person  by  any  manner 
of  ways,  or  upon  any  pretence  whatsoever,  should 
endeavor,  by  force  of  arms,  or  otherwise,  to  disturb 
the  peace  of  government,  he  should  be  deemed  a 
traitor.  Thus  was  the  leader  of  the  aristocratic 
party  in  the  power  of  his  enemies,  by  means  of  a 


COLONEL  BAYARD'S  TREASON.  271 

law  of  his  own,  procured  years  before  for  their  de- 
struction. What  justice  could  he  expect  in  a  trial  at 
that  day,  and  under  those  circumstances  ? 

The  party  in  power,  as  if  conscious  that  their  au- 
thority and  influence  would  soon  be  impaired,  deter- 
mined to  bring  the  prisoner  to  immediate  trial,  before 
the  arrival  of  the  governor,  so  that  he  should  not  be 
saved  by  that  functionary,  who,  there  was  reason  to 
believe,  would  espouse  his  cause.  Although  Brough- 
ton,  the  attorney  general,  gave  a  written  opinion,  that 
no  crime  had  been  committed,  a  special  court  of 
oyer  and  terminer,  consisting  of  three  justices,  was 
immediately  erected  for  the  trial  of  Bayard  and  one 
of  his  adherents.  In  vain  he  petitioned  that  his  trial 
might  be  delayed  until  the  regular  term  of  the  su- 
preme court.  Five  days  was  the  utmost  delay  he 
could  obtain,  and,  on  the  nineteenth  of  February, 
1702,  the  court  assembled  to  decide  his  fate. 

Broughton,  the  attorney  general,  refused  to  prose- 
cute, and  was  not  present  at  the  trial,  for  which  a 
minute  was  made  by  order  of  the  court,  that  he  had 
neglected  his  majesty's  service.  "  It  is  no  wonder," 
exclaimed  Atwood,  the  chief  justice,  "  the  people 
here  contemn  his  majesty's  authority,  since  the  attor- 
ney general,  though  commanded  to  prosecute  by  the 
government,  hath  neglected  to  do  the  same,  and  hath 
given  a  judgment  and  opinion  contrary  to  the  lieu- 
tenant governor  and  council."  The  prosecution 
was  accordingly  conducted  by  Weaver,  the  solicitor 
general.  The  prisoner  was  defended  by  Messrs. 
Emot  and  Nicholl. 

When  the  grand  jury  were  called,  the  prisoner's 


272  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

counsel  objected  to  some  of  them,  for  having  declared 
"  that  if  Bayard's  neck  was  made  of  gold  he  should 
be  hanged,"  at  the  same  time  boasting  that  they  were 
of  the  jury  ;  but  the  objection  was  immediately  over- 
ruled. A  part  of  the  jury  insisted  that  they  had  a 
right  to  deliberate  alone,  whereupon  the  solicitor 
general  took  down  their  names  and  threatened  that 
he  "  would  cause  them  to  be  trounced,"  and  the  jury 
broke  up  in  confusion  without  acting.  The  solicitor 
general  then  complained  to  the  court,  that  four  of  the 
jury  insisted  that  he  should  not  be  present  at  their 
deliberations,  and  the  court  ordered  them  to  be  forth- 
with discharged.  Still  the  jury  hesitated  to  find  a 
bill  of  indictment,  and,  when  they  did  return  one 
into  court,  it  was  immediately  objected  that  the  com- 
petent number  had  not  voted  for  it,  and  it  appeared 
by  the  statement  of  eight  of  the  nineteen  jurors,  that 
they  had  not  voted  in  favor  of  it.  But  the  court  de- 
cided that  the  indictment  had  been  regularly  return- 
ed ;  it  was  thus  a  matter  of  record,  and  no  averment 
against  it  could  be  received.  "  It  is  very  hard,"  ex- 
claimed the  counsel  for  the  prisoner,  "  the  court  ap- 
points the  foreman  of  the  grand  jury,  and  he  may 
chance  to  be  a  person  prejudiced  against  the  prison- 
er, who  may  sign  and  return  a  bill  of  indictment 
without  the  consent  of  his  fellows,  and  because  it  is 
a  matter  of  record,  no  averment  shall  be  allowed 
against  the  bill !  " 

The  indictment  set  forth  that  the  prisoner,  on  the 
tenth  of  December,  1701,  "falsely,  maliciously,  ad- 
visedly, clandestinely,  rebelliously  and  tratorously," 
used  divers  indirect  practices  and  endeavors  to  pro- 


COLONEL  BAYARD'S  TREASON.  273 

cure  mutiny  and  desertion  among  the  soldiers  in  the 
fort,  and  drew  numbers  of  them  to  sign  false  and 
scandalous  libels  against  his  majesty's  government ; 
in  one  or  more  of  which  libels,  amongst  other  things, 
highly  reflecting  on  the  last  and  present  administra- 
tion of  the  government  under  his  majesty  in  this 
province,  it  was  insinuated  and  declared,  that  his 
majesty's  subjects  within  the  province  were,  and  had 
been  for  some  years  past,  oppressed  by  persons  en- 
trusted with  the  administration  of  the  government ; 
that  the  government  was  rendered  cheap  and  vile  in 
the  eyes  of  the  people,  and  that  the  present  general 
assembly  of  the  province  was  not  a  lawful  assembly. 
By  which  and  other  scandals  in  these  libels,  the 
prisoner  had  incited  his  majesty's  subjects  in  the 
province  to  disown  the  present  authority,  and  to  cast 
off  their  obedience  to  his  majesty's  government. 

The  prisoner,  upon  his  arraignment,  pleaded  not 
guilty,  and  desired  that  he  might  be  allowed  two 
clerks  to  take  the  minutes  of  the  trial.  The  request 
was  denied.  "  I  find  it  was  allowed  my  lord  Russel 
and  others,"  he  said,  "  to  employ  clerks.  I  pray  the 
same  liberty."  "  It  was  allowed  my  lord  Russel," 
was  the  reply,  "  but  you  would  not  be  willing  to  meet 
with  the  hardships  of  his  trial." 

The  prisoner  then  sent  a  petition  to  the  court,  in 
which  he  set  forth  the  injustice  and  irregularity  of 
the  proceedings  against  him.  The  indictment,  he 
said,  was  not  agreed  to  by  any  twelve  of  the  grand 
jury,  and  he  prayed  that  all  the  members  of  the 
grand  jury  might  be  examined  by  the  court  upon 
this  point.  He  also  insisted,  that,  as  a  matter  of 


274  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

justice  to  him,  the  grand  jury  ought  to  have  been 
composed  of  Englishmen,  and  of  English  extraction, 
of  the  best  character  for  knowledge,  integrity,  justice, 
conscience,  and  estates ;  yet  there  was  not  a  single 
Englishman  on  the  jury,  but  all  of  them  were  of  Dutch 
extraction  and  education,  and  several  of  them  igno- 
rant to  that  degree,  that  they  could  neither  read  nor 
write,  nor  understand  the  English  language.  He  also 
complained,  that  the  petit  jury  was  principally  com- 
posed of  Dutchmen,  extremely  ignorant  of  the  Eng- 
lish language.1  Of  course  the  petition  had  no  effect. 
The  solicitor  general  then  made  an  introductory 
harangue  to  the  jury,  in  which  he  declaimed  against 
the  English  and  French  inhabitants  of  the  colony, 
including  the  principal  Dutch.  He  charged  the  pris- 
oner with  being  the  head  of  a  faction,  a  malignant 
party,  who  had  endeavored  to  introduce  popery  and 
slavery,  "  disturbers  of  our  Israel,"  as  they  had  been 
of  the  government  of  Leisler,  which,  he  said,  was 
now  justified  at  home  to  be  legal.  He  accused  them 
of  being  a  nest  of  pirates,  betrayers  of  the  prince 
and  his  laws,  a  parcel  of  banditti,  who  offered  the 
late  Earl  of  Bellamont  a  reward  of  ten  thousand 
pounds  to  connive  at  piracies.2  He  avowed  himself 

1  In  this,  the  strife  of  party  is  manifest.     Jacob  Leisler,  it  will  be 
recollected,  was  a  Dutchman,  and  his  adherents  were  principally  of 
that  race.     Bayard  might  well  object  to  be  tried  by  those  who  were 
not  likely  to  forget  the  fate  of  their  chief. 

2  These  charges,  though   probably  exaggerated   by   party  ani- 
mosity, were  not  wholly  destitute  of  foundation.     The  "  people  of 
figure  "  in  New  York  were  more  than  suspected  of  favoring  the 
piracies  of  Kidd  and  others;  and  in  moral  and  political  honesty,  the 
aristocratic  party  were  inferior,  to  say  the  least,  to  the  less  educated 
Leslerians. 


COLONEL  BAYARD'S  TREASON.  275 

to  be  of  the  Leslerian  party,  and  said  he  would  stand 
or  fall  by  it.  He  then  detailed  the  facts  he  expected 
to  prove,  and  the  witnesses  were  called  and  gave  in 
their  testimony. 

Samuel  Clows.  About  a  fortnight  or  three  weeks 
before  Colonel  Bayard's  commitment,  I  happened  to 
come  to  his  house  about  some  business,  not  at  all  re- 
lating to  this  matter ;  concerning  which,  as  we  were 
talking,  Colonel  Bayard  asked  me,  if  I  had  seen  the 
addresses  ?  I  answered,  no.  He  then  showed  me 
three  addresses ;  the  first  was  to  my  Lord  Cornbury ; 
the  persons  addressing  in  it  called  themselves  inhab- 
itants of  New  York,  and  others  distant  from  it ;  and, 
because  some  of  them  could  not  perhaps  be  present 
at  his  lordship's  arrival  here,  did,  by  way  of  address, 
congratulate  his  lordship  into  this  government,  wish- 
ing him  all  health  and  prosperity  here,  and  that  the 
name  of  party  might  be  banished  from  among  us. 
After  I  had  read  it,  Colonel  Bayard  asked  me,  if  I 
had  any  thing  to  say  against  it  ?  I  answered,  no, 
and  then  signed  it.  The  other  two  addresses  were, 
one  to  the  king,  and  the  other  to  the  house  of  com- 
mons, or  to  the  parliament,  I  am  not  positive  which ; 
as  I  had  read  them,  I  remember  I  made  this  observa- 
tion to  myself,  that  they  contained  nearly  both  the 
same  things ;  and  in  them,  or  one  of  them,  to  the 
best  of  my  remembrance,  were  contained  these 
things,  the  persons  addressing,  called  themselves  Eng- 
lishmen and  others,  who,  though  foreigners,  were 
entitled  to  the  privileges  of  Englishmen  here.  It 
speaks  concerning  the  late  revolution  here,  of  which 


276  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

I  have  but  a  confused  idea,  and  can  remember  no- 
thing particular  ;  afterwards  it  speaks  concerning  my 
Lord  Bellamont's  administration,  in  several  articles, 
of  which  I  can  remember  but  one,  which  is,  that  the 
hottest  and  ignorantest  of  the  people  were  put  into 
places  of  trust.  Then  it  speaks  concerning  the  late 
assembly  here,  and  tells  you,  that  after  this  assembly 
had  chosen  a  speaker,  some  of  the  representatives  were 
informed  that  he  was  an  alien  ;  upon  which  they 
made  a  motion  to  the  house,  that  that  matter  might 
be  inquired  into  ;  but  that  motion  being  refused,  one 
half  of  the  representatives,  or  ten  of  them,  left  the 
house ;  notwithstanding  which,  the  remaining  part 
of  the  representatives,  with  some  others  they  took  in, 
did  proceed  to  make  acts ;  in  one  of  which  acts 
they  gave  a  sum  of  money  to  the  lieutenant  gover- 
nor, to  tempt  him  to  pass  these  acts ;  and  likewise  a 
sum  to  the  chief  justice  of  this  province,  to  find  law 
and  form  for  their  proceedings ;  and,  that  these 
things  tended  to  the  rendering  the  government  vile 
and  cheap  in  the  eyes  of  the  people. 

Solicitor  General.  What  names  do  you  remem- 
ber you  saw  to  the  addresses  ? 

Clows.  I  saw  several  names  there ;  but  whether 
to  all  three,  or  two  of  them,  or  only  to  that  of  my 
Lord  Cornbury,  I  cannot  say  ;  but  I  did,  to  the  best 
of  my  remembrance,  see  the  names  of  Rip  van  Dam, 
Matthew  Ling,  Charles  Wooley,  Robert  Livingstone, 
and  Mr.  Anderson ;  but  I  am  not  certain  whether  I 
saw  Mr.  Jamison's  name  there  or  no.  When  I  had 
read  them,  I  told  Colonel  Bayard,  they  contained 
things  done  before  my  time,  and  I  did  not  therefore 


COLONEL  BAYARD'S  TREASON.  277 

think  it  proper  for  me  to  sign  them  ;   upon  which  he 
replied,  "  then  do  not  sign  them." 

Solicitor  General.  I  shall  read  what  you  said  be- 
fore the  council. 

"  Do  so,  if  you  please." 

"  Do  you  not  remember  that  it  was  said,  that  my 
Lord  Bellamont  had  put  the  most  ingenious  and 
honestest  men  of  the  province  out  of  all  places  of 
trust  ? " 

"  No,  I  cannot  remember  that." 

"  I  think  you  said  so  before  the  council." 

"Perhaps  I  might  say  something  like  it  when 
I  was  before  the  council,  though  I  do  not  believe 
there  is  any  essential  difference  between  what  I  now 
say,  and  what  I  said  to  the  council ;  yet  if  there 
be,  I  hope  what  I  then  said  will  not  be  taken  to  my 
prejudice ;  I  was  then  sent  for  by  the  governor's 
letters,  which  seemed  to  import,  that  he  had  business 
with  me  of  a  far  different  nature  than  to  examine  me 
about  this  matter ;  so  that  I  was  then  in  a  surprise." 

"But  you  believe  what  you  then  spoke  was  true  ?  " 

"  Without  doubt ;  and  I  hope  Mr.  Cosens  took 
care  truly  to  write  down  what  I  then  delivered ;  but, 
whether  he  did  express  my  meaning  right  or  no,  I 
know  not ;  for  I  did  not  look  over  his  notes  till  the 
day  I  saw  them  at  your  chamber." 

"  Was  not  the  assembly  called  an  illegal  assem- 
bly ;  and  that  they  had  made  acts  prejudicial  to  the 
country  ? " 

"No,  I  do  not  remember  that." 

"  Was  it  not  said  that  the  scum  of  the  people 
were  put  into  all  places  of  trust  ?  " 
24 


278  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

"  Perhaps  I  might  before  the  council  use  the  word 
1  scum ; '  but  I  now  think  it  was,  that  the  '  hottest ' 
and  '  ignorantest'  were  put  into  places  of  trust." 

"  Mr.  Clows,  pray  tell  us,  what  was  the  reason 
why  you  did  not  sign  the  other  two  addresses  ?  " 

"  I  think  I  am  not  at  this  time  obliged  to  tell  that, 
as  it  does  not  at  all  affect  the  matter." 

Chief  Justice.    Yes,  but  it  does  ;  you  must  tell  us. 

Witness.  One  of  the  chief  reasons  was,  because  I 
then  thought,  that  the  saying  the  assembly  had  given 
a  gift  to  the  lieutenant  governor,  to  tempt  him  to 
pass  their  acts,  was  a  reflection  upon  the  lieutenant 
governor  ;  but  it  is  my  judgment  now,  that  it  was  no 
reflection  at  all  upon  him. 

Solicitor  General.  How !  and  do  you  not  think 
so  now  ? 

Chief  Justice.     He  only  speaks  it  as  his  judgment. 

Solicitor  General.  Do  you  not  remember,  that  the 
assembly  was  called  "  The  Pretended  Assembly  ?  " 

Witness.     No. 

Solicitor  General.  Do  you  not  remember,  it  was 
said,  "  their  illegal  proceedings  ?  "  Do  you  not  re- 
member the  word  "  illegal  ? " 

Witness.  No,  I  cannot  remember  that ;  and  I  de- 
sired you,  at  your  chamber,  to  put  that  word  out  of 
the  clerk's  notes. 

Prisoner.     Did  I  ever  ask  you  to  sign  them  ? 

Witness.  No,  you  did  not ;  you  was  so  far  from 
doing  that,  that  you  rather  persuaded  me  not  to  sign 
them ;  and  so  did  Madam  Bayard,  who  was  then  in 
the  room. 

Nicholl.  Do  you  remember  any  thing  of  the  word 
"  oppression  "  in  the  address  ? 


COLONEL  BAYARD'S  TREASON.  279 

Witness.     No,  I  do  not  remember  that  word. 

Solicitor  General.  That  the  king's  subjects  were 
oppressed  here  ? 

Nicholl.  Was  the  assembly  called  an  "  unlawful 
assembly  ? " 

Witness.  No,  gentlemen  ;  I  can  speak  positively 
to  but  few  of  these  things  ;  what  I  say  is,  to  the  best 
of  my  remembrance  and  understanding. 

Peter  Odyre.  Going  by  Colonel  Bayard's  house, 
one  Mr.  Bodinot  told  me,  I  must  step  in  to  Colonel 
Bayard's,  and  sign  an  address  to  the  king ;  and  as 
I  was  going  in,  I  met  Colonel  Bayard  coming  forth 
of  his  house  ;  and,  going  in,  I  saw  the  addresses  lying 
on  the  table. 

Solicitor  General.  Did  Colonel  Bayard  then  per- 
suade you  to  sign  them  ?  or,  did  he  tell  you  it  was 
for  your  good  to  sign  them  ? 

Witness.  Colonel  Bayard  then  told  me,  I  might 
sign  if  I  would,  or  that  I  might  not ;  and  the  colonel 
also  told  me  it  was  for  the  good  of  the  country ;  and 
that,  if  I  was  willing,  I  might  sign  them  ;  if  not,  I 
might  let  them  alone  ;  and  then  went  away. 

W.  Richardson.  One  day  drinking  at  one  Spen- 
cer's, I  was  desired  to  go  to  the  coffee  house,  which 
I  did ;  and,  when  there,  I  saw  a  great  many  people, 
I  believe  near  a  hundred ;  and,  coming  above  stairs, 
I  saw  papers  on  the  table,  which  were  called  "  ad- 
dresses," which  I  signed  with  others ;  and  I  saw, 
among  others,  Colonel  Bayard  there  ;  but  he  seemed 
to  be  no  more  acting  or  concerned  than  any  other. 


280  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

Chief  Justice.  You  are  very  forgetful  of  what 
you  swore  before  the  governor  and  council ;  but,  to 
put  you  in  mind  of  somewhat  of  it,  did  nobody  tell 
you  what  papers  were  lo  be  signed  ? 

Witness.     Nobody  at  all. 

Solicitor  General.  How  many  papers  did  you 
sign? 

Witness.  I  signed  three,  but  did  not  know  what 
they  were,  but  was  told  they  were  addresses  to  the 
king,  and  my  Lord  Cornbury,  and  the  parliament, 
but  did  not  read  any  of  them ;  but,  I  think,  one  of 
them  complained,  that  the  people  lay  under  some 
hardships  here. 

Solicitor  General.  You  declared  much  more  be- 
fore the  council. 

Witness.  I  was  then  called  suddenly  before  the 
council,  and  was  surprised. 

John  Bashford.  I  was  at  the  coffee  house,  where 
I  saw  the  papers  or  addresses,  but  do  not  know  what 
they  were  or  contained ;  and  I  signed  four  or  five 
papers  there,  but  did  not  stay  half  a  quarter  of  an 
hour.  When  I  was  there,  I  saw  Colonel  Bayard 
amongst  many  others  in  the  room,  but  did  not  see 
his  name,  as  I  remember,  to  any  of  the  papers. 

Chief  Justice.  These  witnesses  are  very  unwil- 
ling, or  very  forgetful,  having  given  a  much  different 
account  of  things  upon  their  oaths  before  the  gover- 
nor and  council. 

Witness.  1  have  now  had  time  to  recollect  my- 
self, but  was  then  under  a  surprise,  not  knowing 
what  I  was  sent  to  for. 


COLONEL  BAYARD'S  TREASON.  281 

Michael  Christian.  I  remember,  some  time  since, 
about  Christmas,  I  believe,  I  was  at  the  coffee  house, 
where  I  saw  the  addresses,  with  many  other  people, 
but  cannot  tell  how  many. 

Chief  Justice.  Do  you  believe  there  were  more 
than  twenty  ? 

Witness.  No,  I  believe  there  were  not.  I  found 
three  addresses  there,  and  signed  them  all,  but  the 
substance  thereof  I  cannot  now  remember ;  it  is  a 
good  while  since,  and  therefore  I  cannot  speak  posi- 
tively to  it.  I  remember,  a  question  was  asked  me 
at  the  council,  whether  there  were  any  complaints  in 
the  addresses  that  the  soldiers  wanted  their  pay  ?  I 
believe  I  might  then  answer  something  about  it,  but 
I  do  not  know  any  such  thing  in  the  addresses,  either 
of  the  soldiers  or  their  pay.  I  remember  that  Col- 
onel Bayard  was  then  at  the  coffee  house  when  I 
signed  the  addresses,  but  do  not  remember  that  any 
body  desired  me  to  sign. 

Chief  Justice.  How  many  hands,  Mr.  Christian, 
did  you  see  to  the  addresses  ? 

Witness.  I  cannot  tell  how  many,  but  remember 
Colonel  Bayard  amongst  others  was  there ;  but  he 
never  asked  me  to  sign  either  of  the  addresses ;  nor 
can  I  remember  that  there  was  any  thing  concerning 
either  the  soldiers  or  their  pay  in  the  addresses. 

Chief  Justice.  Certainly  these  gentlemen  are  very 
unwilling  evidences.  Mr.  Christian  is  a  gentleman 
of  good  learning,  and  it  is  strange  that  he  should  be 
so  forgetful,  that  he  cannot  remember  what  was  given 
in  on  his  oath  before  the  governor  and  council ;  he 
has  either  a  weak  or  a  treacherous  memory. 


282  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

The  solicitor  general  then  called  witnesses  to  prove 
the  character  of  the  people  "  who  were  drawn  in  to 
sign  these  papers."  Some  of  them  it  appeared  were 
minors,  and  many  were  soldiers  of  the  fort,  who  ex- 
pected to  be  "  made  free  of  the  city,"  though  they 
admitted  that  no  one  told  them  so  explicitly. 

Solicitor  General.  I  have  now  proved  by  the  wit- 
nesses those  false  and  scandalous  libels  set  forth  in 
the  indictment,  whereby  the  good,  peace,  and  quiet 
of  the  government  has  been  disturbed,  which  by  this 
act  of  assembly  is  high  treason.  I  have  likewise 
proved,  that  the  soldiers  were  drawn  in  to  sign  those 
scandalous  libels,  and  that  some  did  sign  blank 
rolls,  which  was  listing  of  soldiers,  and  is  treason. 
These  words  in  the  petition  to  the  lieutenant  gover- 
nor and  council,  viz.  "  who  we  understand,  by  certain 
advice  we  have  received  from  England,  to  be  nomi- 
nated by  his  majesty  to  succeed  the  late  Earl  of  Bella- 
mont  as  our  governor,"  are  a  disowning  and  casting  off 
the  present  authority,  and  his  majesty's  government. 

Then  the  counsel  for  the  prisoner  addressed  the 
court  and  jury  in  his  behalf. 

NicholL  Your  honor  and  the  jury  will  please  to 
take  notice,  that  the  indictment  consists  of  divers 
heads ;  as,  that  the  prisoner  did  compass,  imagine, 
contrive,  propose  and  design  to  defame  the  peace, 
good  and  quiet  of  this  his  majesty's  government; 
that  he  used  divers  indirect  practices  and  endeavors 
to  procure  mutiny  and  sedition  among  the  soldiers  ; 
that  he  drew  in  numbers  of  them,  the  said  soldiers 
and  others,  to  sign  false  and  scandalous  libels,  and 


COLONEL  BAYARD'S  TREASON.  283 

that  he  had  signed  them  himself;  that  in  these  libels 
it  is  declared,  that  the  subjects  in  this  province  are 
and  have  been  for  many  years  last  past,  by  those 
entrusted  in  the  administration  of  the  government, 
oppressed  ;  and  that  the  government  hath  been,  and 
is  rendered  cheap  and  vile  in  the  eyes  of  the  people  ; 
as,  also,  that  the  general  assembly  of  this  province  is 
not  a  lawful  assembly ;  by  which  means  he  hath 
incited  his  majesty's  subjects  to  cast  off  their  obedi- 
ence to  his  majesty's  said  government. 

The  prisoner  is  not  directly  charged  here  with  any 
fact,  except  his  own  signing  the  said  libels,  but  for 
endeavors  ;  the  rest  are  forced  conclusions  and 
strained  inferences  drawn  from  thence.  It  is  not 
alleged,  that  the  peace  of  the  government  has  been 
disturbed,  or  that  any  mutiny  or  sedition  has  been 
amongst  the  soldiers,  or  that  any  one  of  his  majesty's 
subjects  has  cast  off  his  obedience  to  his  majesty's 
said  government.  By  the  course  of  the  evidence,  it 
appears,  there  was  an  address  to  the  king,  an  address 
to  the  house  of  commons,  and  an  address  to  my  Lord 
Cornbury,  and  a  petition  or  address  to  the  lieutenant 
governor  and  council ;  but  all  the  evidence  is  very 
lame  and  weak,  as  to  the  three  first,  if  we  should  ad- 
mit the  making  or  signing  of  them  to  be  any  fault  or 
crime,  more  especially  if  the  same  should  amount  to 
treason ;  for  by  none  of  the  evidence  does  it  appear 
that  the  prisoner  signed  these  addresses  ;  here  is  not 
so  much  as  the  likeness  or  comparison  of  hands  pro- 
duced, alleged,  or  proved ;  though  if  it  were,  that 
would  not  do. 

But  I  shall  not  dwell  upon  the  evidence ;  it  is  cer- 


284  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

tainly  the  right  of  the  subject  to  petition  the  king, 
whenever  he  conceives  himself  aggrieved.  In  the 
Bishops'  trial,  Mr.  Pollexfen  says,  "  I  never  thought 
it,  nor  hath  it  since  been  thought  by  any  body  else, 
to  be  a  crime  to  petition  the  king."  Sergeant  Le- 
vinz  affirms,  "  the  subjects  have  a  right  of  petitioning 
the  king  in  all  their  grievances."  So  say  all  our 
books  of  law ;  so  says  the  statute  of  the  13th  of 
Charles  II. ;  they  may  petition.  Sir  Thomas  Powys, 
then  .attorney  general,  acknowledges  that  access  to 
the  king  by  petition  is  open  to  every  body ;  the  most 
inferior  person  is  allowed  to  petition  the  king.  Mr. 
Justice  Holloway  says,  "  it  is  the  birthright  of  the 
subject  to  petition  the  king."  If  it  is  the  birthright 
of  the  subject  to  petition  the  king,  to  procure  or  draw 
in  men  to  do  what  is  their  birthright  to  do  can  never 
amount  to  a  crime. 

Chief  Justice.  I  do  not  say  petitioning  the  king 
is  a  crime,  but  it  may  be  to  petition  the  house  of 
commons  in  the  plantations,  where  the  king  governs 
by  prerogative. 

Nicholl.  I  cannot  think  it  is  a  crime  for  the  sub- 
jects of  the  plantations  to  petition  the  house  of  com- 
mons ;  it  is  every  day's  practice.  Consult  the  votes 
in  every  session,  you  will  find  many  addresses,  peti- 
tions, and  complaints  from  the  subjects  of  the  planta- 
tions. It  seems  to  be  the  right  of  the  subjects  to 
petition  the  house  of  commons.  The  statute  of  the 
13th  of  Charles  II.  c.  5,  restrains  the  common  law  ; 
by  that  it  plainly  appears  to  be  the  right  of  the  sub- 
ject to  petition  the  house  of  commons,  or  the  king. 
The  proviso  in  that  act  says,  "  that  neither  that  act, 


COLONEL  BAYARD'S  TREASON.  285 

nor  any  thing  therein  contained,  shall  be  construed 
to  extend  or  hinder  any  person  or  persons,  not  ex- 
ceeding the  number  of  ten,  to  present  any  public  or 
private  grievance  or  complaint  to  any  member  of  the 
house  of  commons  after  his  election,  or  to  the  king's 
majesty."  By  the  act  of  recognition  of  William 
and  Mary,  declaring  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the 
subjects,  and  settling  the  succession  of  the  crown, 
it  is  enacted,  amongst  other  things,  "  that  it  is  the 
right  of  the  subject  to  petition  the  king ;  and  all  com- 
mitments and  prosecutions  for  such  petitioning  are 
illegal."  And  they  do  claim,  demand,  and  insist,  upon 
all  and  singular  the  premises,  as  their  undoubted 
rights  and  liberties  ;  and  that  no  declaration,  judg- 
ment, doings  or  proceedings,  to  the  prejudice  of  the 
people,  in  any  the  said  premises,  ought  in  any  wise 
hereafter  to  be  drawn  into  consequence  or  example. 
Here  is  no  grant  of  any  new  privilege,  but  a  claim 
and  acknowledgment  of  an  ancient  right ;  and  peti- 
tions to  the  parliament  are  as  ancient  as  parliaments 
themselves.  If  the  subjects  of  the  plantations  may 
not  petition  and  complain  to  their  prince,  they  are  in 
a  worse  condition  than  slaves.  The  cries  of  the 
oppressions  in  the  plantations  have  gone  up  to 
heaven,  and  are  again  come  down  upon  the  earth, 
and  have  inspired  and  moved  the  king  and  parlia- 
ment of  England  to  make  a  law  to  check  the  exor- 
bitant actions  of  governors  in  the  plantations,  and 
make  them  accountable  in  England  for  their  miscar- 
riages abroad ;  which  can  never  be  discovered  to  the 
king  but  by  petition. ' 

1  This  act  provided  that  if  any  governor  of  any  colony  should  be 


286  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

This  prosecution  seems  to  be  made  to  frustrate  and 
evade  this  act  of  parliament.  The  subject  is  op- 
pressed, or  conceives  himself  to  be  so,  and  complains 
of  this  oppression  ;  this  complaining  is  made  treason ! 
Here  is  a  strange  and  fatal  dilemma  on  the  subjects 
of  the  plantations.  They  must  either  suffer  their 
oppressions,  or  be  hanged  for  traitors  if  they  com- 
plain ! 

The  act  of  assembly  of  this  country  can  by  no 
natural  or  legal  construction  be  extended  to  make  the 
prisoner  culpable.  It  is  plain  by  the  whole  purport 
of  the  act,  that  it  has  made  no  new  treason  ;  it  only 
recognises  the  king  and  queen  ;  and  enacts,  that 
those  who  shall  do  any  thing  destructive  to  that 
establishment,  by  force  of  arms  or  otherwise,  shall 
be  rebels  and  traitors ;  which  they  would  be  without 
this  act.  If  this  address  and  petition  had  been  to  the 
French  king,  the  thing  had  been  of  another  nature. 
By  the  same  construction,  every  petty  battery,  or 
other  little  trespass,  may  be  a  treason. 

The  petition  of  Colonel  Bayard  and  'the  other 
three  is  so  far  from  disowning  the  government,  that 
it  is  a  direct  acknowledging  of  the  same.  The  direc- 
tion of  the  petition  is,  to  the  lieutenant  governor  and 
the  council.  The  expression  "  that  they  have  advice 
that  Lord  Cornbury  is  to  succeed  the  Earl  of  Bella- 
mont"  can  with  no  justice  or  common  sense  be  con- 
strued to  be  a  disowning  and  casting  off  of  the  gov- 

guilty  of  oppressing  his  majesty's  subjects  beyond  the  seas,  or 
should  be  guilty  of  any  other  crime  or  offence,  the  same  should 
be  inquired  of  by  the  court  of  king's  bench  in  England,  and  such 
punishments  inflicted  as  were  usually  inflicted  for  offences  of  a 
like  nature  committed  in  England. 


COLONEL  BAYARD'S  TREASON.  287 

ernment.  I  think  it  will  hardly  be  affirmed,  that  the 
council  succeeded  the  Earl  of  Bellamont,  and  Cap- 
tain Nanfan1  the  council ;  if  so,  after  the  Earl  of  Bel- 
lamont, who  was  captain  general  ?  We  had  seven 
captains-general ;  which  is  an  absurdity,  I  suppose, 
none  will  allege.  A  familiar  example  will  demon- 
strate the  weakness  and  falsity  of  this  construction. 
If  a  captain  of  a  company  be  killed  or  absent,  the 
lieutenant  or  next  officer  has  the  full  command  of 
the  company,  as  the  captain  had,  or  could  have  ;  but 
I  think  no  man  will  say  he  succeeds  the  captain,  or 
that  when  another  captain  is  appointed  he  succeeds 
that  lieutenant  or  other  officer.  So  that  I  cannot 
think  there  is  any  fact  or  crime  alleged  or  proved 
against  the  prisoner,  to  charge  him  with  this  high 
crime  of  treason,  or  indeed  with  any  other  crime 
whatsoever. 

Emot.  By  your  honor's  permission,  I  am  of  counsel 
for  Colonel  Bayard,  the  prisoner  at  the  bar  ;  but  by 
reason  I  am  unwilling  to  spend  too  much  of  your 
time,  this  trial  already  having  been  very  long ;  and 
Mr.  Nicholl,  who  is  also  of  the  counsel  on  the  same 
side,  having  amongst  other  things  made  it  very  evi- 
dent, that  for  the  subjects  to  petition  his  majesty  is 
their  ancient  and  indubitable  right ;  I  shall  therefore 
make  it  my  business  only,  as  near  as  I  can,  to  de- 
monstrate to  this  court  and  jury,  that  had  the  king's 
counsel  made  ample  proof  that  all  the  matters  of  fact 
alleged  in  the  indictment,  as  the  signing  the  addresses, 


1  Some  time  after  the  Earl  of  Bellamont's  death,  Captain  Nanfan, 
the  lieutenant  governor,  was  at  Barbadoes. 


288  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

and  other  things  therein  contained,  were  true ;  yet, 
in  point  of  law,  they  cannot  amount  to  that  grand 
crime  of  high  treason. 

He  then  made  an  elaborate,  learned,  and  able  ar- 
gument upon  the  law  of  treason,  in  which  he  exam- 
ined all  the  authorities  upon  the  subject,  and  ex- 
posed with  great  clearness  and  force,  the  absurdity 
of  supposing  the  acts  of  the  prisoner  to  constitute  the 
grave  crime  of  high  treason.  He  then  commented 
upon  the  act  of  the  assembly,  arguing  that  it  had  no 
relation  to  a  case  like  this  ;  and  contended,  in  con- 
clusion, that  the  jury  were  judges  of  law  and  fact. 
Matters  of  law,  he  admitted,  were  the  most  common 
and  proper  objects  for  the  determination  of  the 
judges,  yet  as  law  arose  out  of  and  was  interwoven 
and  complicated  with  fact,  it  could  not  but  fall  under 
the  jury's  consideration.1 

Several  witnesses  were  then  called  in  behalf  of  the 
prisoner,  among  them  the  minister  of  Trinity  church, 
who  testified  to  his  exemplary  character,  and  his 
attachment  to  the  cause  of  the  king. 

The  chief  justice  then  charged  the  jury.  The 
indictment  he  said,  was  founded  upon  the  act  of  the 
assembly  of  New  York,  confirmed  by  his  majesty, 
which  had  power  to  make  acts  of  treason  as  well  as 
parliament.  The  right  of  petitioning  the  king  was 
not  in  dispute,  but  the  manner  of  doing  it  made  it 
criminal.  It  was  perfectly  plain,  that  the  addresses 
of  the  prisoner  was  a  disowning  of  the  present  au- 

1  This  was  many  years,  it  should  be  recollected,  before  Andrew 
Hamilton  asserted  the  same  doctrine  on  the  trial  of  Zenger.     S 
p.  175. 


COLONEL  BAYARD'S  TREASON.  289 

thority,  and  a  casting  off  his  majesty's  government 
as  it  was  then  established.  The  drawing  in  of  sol- 
diers to  sign  petitions  was  mutiny  and  sedition  by 
the  law ;  and  drawing  them  in  on  false  pretences,  in 
hopes  of  freedom  in  the  city,  and  subscribing  their 
names  on  blank  lists,  was  enlisting  soldiers,  and 
might  be  applied  to  invite  in  any  foreign  power.  In 
conclusion,  he  strenuously  insisted  that  the  facts  laid 
in  the  indictment  were  abundantly  proved,  and  con- 
stituted the  offence  of  high  treason,  and,  therefore, 
the  jury  could  do  no  otherwise  than  find  the  pris- 
oner guilty. 

The  jury  retired,  but  had  not  agreed  at  nine  o'clock 
in  the  evening.  The  court  adjourned  to  the  suc- 
ceeding Monday,  and  the  jury  had  not  then  agreed 
upon  a  verdict,  but  requested  further  instructions. 
The  chief  justice  proceeded  to  give  them,  and  said 
he  had  received  letters  from  the  jury,  and  answered 
them,  which  answers  were  only  his  private  opinion. 
He  said  if  they  were  under  any  difficulty,  whether 
the  matters  of  fact  alleged  in  the  indictment,  and 
which  were  proved  to  them,  were  treason  or  not, 
they  might  find  the  prisoner  guilty ;  who  had  his  ad- 
vantage in  moving  in  arrest  of  judgment,  and  might 
be  relieved  as  to  matter  of  law. 

Eniot.  This  is  not  fair,  to  give  the  jury  a  handle 
to  find  the  prisoner  guilty,  in  expectation  of  relief  in 
arrest  of  judgment ;  for  they  are  judges  both  of  law 
and  fact,  as  the  case  is  now  circumstanced  ;  if  they 
will  enslave  themselves  and  their  posterity,  and  debar 
themselves  of  all  access  to  their  prince,  they  will  be 
worse  than  negroes. 
25 


290  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

Chief  Justice.  This  is  not  to  be  suffered,  to  offer 
these  things  to  the  jury  after  they  have  received 
their  charge  ;  therefore  be  silent.  Then  proceeding, 
he  renewed  his  charge  to  the  jury,  aggravating  the 
supposed  crimes  for  the  space  of  about  half  an  hour. 

Emot.  I  pray  your  honor  to  be  heard  one  word. 
(This  request  he  often  repeated,  and,  at  last,  it  was 
granted  him.)  The  facts  laid  in  the  indictment  were 
not  proved,  as  to  the  disowning  and  casting  off  the 
government,  encouraging  of  mutiny  in  the  soldiers, 
or  disquieting  the  peace  of  the  government.  Ad- 
dressing the  king  is  the  undoubted  right  of  the  sub- 
ject, both  by  common  law  and  acts  of  parliament.  If 
the  subject,  for  complaining  of  grievances,  set  forth 
by  petition,  is  to  be  attainted  of  high  treason,  we  are 
in  a  worse  condition  than  slaves. 

The  chief  justice  checked  him,  and  commanded 
silence. 

NicholL  The  act  of  parliament  to  punish  govern- 
ors in  the  plantations  for  oppressing  the  subject,  is 
rendered  useless  and  of  no  effect,  if  the  subjects  are 
deprived  of  the  liberty  to  complain,  and  set  forth 
their  grievances,  by  petition  to  their  king. 

The  jury  again  retired  and  brought  in  a  verdict  of 
guilty. 

The  prisoner's  counsel  immediately  moved  in  arrest 
of  judgment  for  several  reasons,  the  principal  of 
which  was  that  no  act  of  treason  had  been  commit- 
ted. These  points  were  argued  at  great  length,  but 
were  all  overruled  by  the  court. 

Meanwhile,  before  sentence  was  passed,  the  pris- 
oner made  an  urgent  appeal  in  a  letter  he  addressed 


COLONEL  BAYARD'S  TREASON.  291 

to  De  Peyster,  one  of  his  judges,  in  which  he  says : 
"  Believe  me,  sir,  as  you  may  give  credit  to  the  words 
of  a  dying  man,  I  die  with  a  clear  and  good  con- 
science, and  as  free  of  that  horrid  crime  laid  to  my 
charge  as  the  child  yet  unborn  ;  and  therefore  hope 
God's  merciful  hand,  who  has  never  left  nor  forsaken 
me,  will  continue  to  support  me  to  the  very  last,  and 
that  I  may  look  death  in  the  face,  as  a  good  Christian 
ought  to  do  ;  humbly  submitting  my  all  to  his  most 
wise,  most  just,  and  most  merciful  dispensations  ;  for 
I  am  sensible  there  is  no  more  than  one  death  for 
me,  and  that,  in  all  probability,  considering  my  age, 
it  might  have  been  very  soon,  though  this  tribulation 
had  not  befallen  me.  I  shall  only  add,  that  I  hope 
in  God's  mercy  for  the  pardon  of  all  my  manifold 
sins  and  transgressions,  through  the  only  merits  of 
my  saviour  Jesus  Christ ;  and  that  when  I  shall  be 
no  more,  he  will  continue  his  grace  to  my  dear  wife, 
and  my  posterity  ;  and,  lastly,  that  my  blood,  which 
is  struck  at  (by  your  brother's  own  expressions  to 
myself,  and  your  brother-in-law's  to  others,  both  not 
long  since)  may  be  the  last  to  be  spilt  on  account  of 
our  dismal  and  unhappy  divisions  ;  though  I  fear  that 
out  of  my  ashes  such  further  calamities  may  arise  to 
this  poor  bleeding  province,  as  posterity  will  have 
cause  long  to  lament ;  for  it  is  not  to  be  expected,  that 
all  the  plots,  contrivances  and  intrigues  used  in  this 
matter  (many  of  which,  I  assure  you,  are  already  dis- 
covered,) will  have  their  end  with  myself :  it  had  been 
more  pardonable  to  have  stabbed  me  in  my  sleep,  or 
with  Joab's  hand,  under  a  pretence  of  friendship, 
than  to  do  it  with  Ahab's,  under  a  color  and  cloak  of 


292  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

justice ;  and  of  the  two,  I  leave  others  to  consider, 
if  this  latter  exceeds  not  the  former ;  since  it  is  not 
to  be  supposed,  that  Ahab's  was  so  much  out  of 
malice ;  but  the  vineyard  being  denied  him  on  his 
offering  the  worth  of  it  in  money,  occasioned  the 
innocent  to  be  arraigned  and  slain  for  a  pretended 
crime  of  blasphemy  and  high  treason." 

The  prisoner  also  made  a  petition  to  the  court,  in 
which  he  set  forth  the  irregularity  of  the  proceedings 
against  him :  first,  that  the  indictment  was  not  re- 
turned by  twelve  of  the  grand  jury  ;  second,  that  the 
petit  jury  were  all  prejudiced  against  him  on  account 
of  the  unhappy  divisions  in  the  province,  and  they 
were  extremely  ignorant  of  the  English  language, 
scarcely  one  of  them  being  able  to  say  the  Lord's 
prayer  in  the  English  language ;  that  there  was  no 
proof  of  his  signing  or  encouraging  others  to  sign  the 
petitions,  and  that  the  petitions  contained  nothing 
treasonable.  Another  learned  argument  was  heard, 
but  with  no  different  result ;  and  the  chief  justice 
demanded  of  the  prisoner  if  he  had  any  thing  to  say 
why  sentence  should  not  be  pronounced. 

Prisoner.  I  have  nothing  more  to  offer,  than  what 
my  counsel  have  offered,  and  what  is  contained  in 
my  last  petition. 

Chief  Justice.  I  am  sorry  to  find  you  so  impeni- 
tent of  your  crime,  which  is  so  heinous  and  abomina- 
ble in  the  sight  of  God  and  man.  You  have  lately 
made  reflections  upon  the  proceedings  of  this  court 
against  you  as  if  it  had  been  a  design  to  do  the  job ; 
comparing  your  case  to  that  of  Naboth's  vineyard. 
But  I  hope  God  will  open  your  eyes,  that  you  may 
be  convinced,  and  repent  of  the  crime. 


COLONEL  BAYARD'S  TREASON.  293 

Then  he  pronounced  sentence  in  these  words :  — 
It  is  considered  by  the  court  here,  that  you  be  carried 
to  the  place  from  whence  you  came ;  that  from 
thence  you  be  drawn  upon  an  hurdle  to  the  place 
of  execution  ;  that  there  you  be  hanged  by  the  neck, 
and  being  alive  you  be  cut  down  upon  the  earth,  and 
that  your  bowels  be  taken  out  of  your  belly,  and  your 
privy  members  be  cut  off,  and  you  being  alive  they 
be  burnt  before  your  face  ;  and  that  your  head  be 
cut  off,  and  that  your  body  be  divided  into  four  quar- 
ters ;  and  that  your  head  and  quarters  be  placed 
where  our  lord  the  king  shall  assign.  And  the  Lord 
have  mercy  upon  your  soul. 

"  I  desire  to  know,"  demanded  the  prisoner, 
"  whether  I  have  leave  to  answer  your  honor's 
speech,  made  before  sentence  ? "  "  No."  "  Then," 
he  exclaimed,  "  God's  will  be  done,"  and  was  imme- 
diately removed  to  prison. 

But  the  sentence  was  not  carried  into  execution. 
Applying,  for  a  reprieve  until  the  pleasure  of  the  king 
might  be  known,  it  was  granted  to  him,  and,  on  the 
arrival  of  Lord  Cornbury,  he  was  released.  All  was 
then  reversed.  Cornbury  avowed  himself  the  friend 
of  the  aristocracy.  Atwood,  the  chief  justice,  and 
Weaver,  the  solicitor  general,  fled  to  England.  Bay- 
ard was  reinstated  in  all  honor  and  estate,  by  public 
command,  "  as  if  no  such  trial  had  been."  Nor  did 
the  bitterness  of  party  strife  continue  long  to  distract 
the  province  as  it  had  done.  The  vices  of  the  needy 
and  profligate  adventurer,  who  was  sent  to  govern 
New  York,  taught  the  people  the  necessity  and  the 
methods  of  incipient  resistance.  They  forgot  their 

25» 


294  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

personal  animosities  in  their  resistance  of  oppression, 
and  ceased  to  favor  the  violence,  rapacity,  and  oppres- 
sion of  their  governor  by  divisions  amongst  them- 
selves. Lord  Cornbury,  more  useful  than  a  better 
man,  destroyed  the  factions  of  New  York  by  op- 
pressing them  both,  until  they  united  in  resistance  to 
himself,  and  the  contest  soon  began,  which  resulted 
in  the  establishment  of  a  free  and  independent  nation. 


TRIAL  OF  MICHAEL  CORBETT  AND  OTHERS 


BEFORE     A 


SPECIAL  COURT  OF  VICE  ADMIRALTY, 


MURDER    ON    THE    HIGH    SEAS. 


BOSTON,  1769. 


Of  the  trial  of  Michael  Corbett  and  others,  seamen  on  board  of  a 
Marblehead  brigantine,  for  the  murder  of  Lieutenant  Panton,  of 
his  majesty's  ship  Rose,  while  attempting  to  impress  them,  no  au- 
thentic and  detailed  report  is  known  to  exist,  although  the  trial 
caused  intense  excitement  at  the  time.  The  following  account  is 
principally  derived  from  the  newspapers  of  that  day,  and  a  few 
remarks  on  the  subject  in  the  third  volume  of  Hutchinson's  History 
of  Massachusetts  Bay. 


THE  CREW  OF  THE  PITT  PACKET. 


IN  the  month  of  April,  1769,  a  brigantine,  the  Pitt 
Packet,  of  Marblehead,  was  boarded  as  she  waa 
coming  in  from  Europe,  seven  leagues  from  land,  by 
a  boat  from  the  Rose,  man  of  war,  the  Boston  sta- 
tion ship,  then  cruising  in  order  to  impress  seamen. 
The  seamen  of  the  brigantine,  four  in  number,  de- 
termined not  to  be  impressed,  and,  having  provided 
themselves  with  harpoons  and  other  weapons,  they 
shut  themselves  up  in  the  fore  peak,  declaring  that 
they  preferred  death  to  slavery,  and  would  sacrifice 
their  lives  sooner  than  be  taken  out  of  the  ship. 
Panton,  the  lieutenant  of  the  Rose,  seeing  the  des- 
perate determination  of  the  men,  at  first  endeavored 
to  persuade  them  to  surrender,  and  at  length  pro- 
mised that  he  would  be  content  with  one  of  their 
number.  Finding  that  mild  measures  were  of  no 
avail,  he  informed  them  that  he  should  make  use  of 
force,  and  they  declared  that  they  would  resist  unto 


298  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

death.  A  pistol,  charged  with  powder,  was  then 
fired  at  them,  which  burned  the  face  of  Michael  Cor- 
bett,  and  immediately  afterwards  another  of  the  num- 
ber received  a  shot  in  the  arm.  The  seamen  now 
became  desperate,  and  repeatedly  asserted  that  they 
would  kill  the  first  man  who  offered  to  approach 
them  ;  and  a  man  sent  in  by  the  lieutenant  was  con- 
siderably wounded,  and  retreated. 

Lieutenant  Panton  then  declared  that  he  would 
lead  the  way  himself.  Corbett  warned  him  not  to 
approach,  and  called  God  to  witness  that  if  he  ad- 
vanced one  step  towards  them,  he  should  instantly 
die.  The  lieutenant,  who  was  a  resolute  and  brave 
officer,  coolly  remarked  that  he  had  seen  many  a 
brave  fellow  in  his  life,  but  would  take  a  pinch  of 
snuff  and  consider  the  matter,  which,  having  deliber- 
ately done,  he  moved  towards  the  seamen,  when  Cor- 
bett, agreeably  to  his  threat,  struck  him  with  a  har- 
poon, which  cut  the  jugular  vein.  The  unfortunate 
officer  gasped  out  that  they  had  taken  his  life,  and 
immediately  expired.  The  seamen  continued  to  de- 
fend themselves,  but  having  provided  themselves 
with  rum,  they  became  intoxicated  and  were  taken  to 
Boston.  Their  names  were  Michael  Corbett,  Pierce 
Penning,  William  Courier,  and  John  Byan. 

They  were  brought  up  before  a  special  court  of  vice 
admiralty,  consisting  of  crown  officers,  "  commission- 
ers for  the  trial  of  piracies,  robberies,  and  felonies  on 
the  high  seas,"  which  court  had  always  proceeded 
without  a  jury.  But  James  Otis  and  John  Adams, 
counsel  for  the  prisoners,  insisted  upon  a  trial  by  jury 
as  a  matter  of  right.  The  point  was  elaborately  ar- 


THE    CREW    OF    THE    PITT    PACKET.  299 

gued  by  counsel.  Governor  Bernard,  the  president 
of  the  court,  was  inclined  to  favor  the  trial  by  jury, 
and  the  king's  counsel  acceded  to  it ;  the  only  point 
remaining  was  the  manner  of  summoning  the  jurors. 
But  Hutchinson,  the  chief  justice,  who  was  one  of 
the  commissioners,  being  well  satisfied  that  the  decis- 
ion was  directly  against  law,  drew  up  a  statement  of 
the  case,  which  convinced  the  court  that  they  ought 
to  proceed  without  a  jury.1 

Accordingly,  on  Tuesday  the  nineteenth  of  June, 
1769,  the  trial  commenced  in  Boston,  before  the  fol- 
lowing commissioners  : — Sir  Francis  Bernard,  gover- 
nor of  Massachusetts  ;  John  Wentworth,  governor 
of  New  Hampshire  ;  Samuel  Hood,  commodore  and 
commander  of  his  majesty's  ships  ;  Thomas  Hutchin- 


1  A  statute  of  William  III.  authorized  the  court  of  admiralty  to 
try  cases  of  piracy.  The  design  of  the  statute  was  to  prevent  the 
trials  of  piracies  by  juries  in  the  plantations,  at  a  time  when  the 
verdicts  of  juries  had  been  very  partial  towards  the  buccaneers. 
It  was  the  opinion  of  the  chief  justice  in  the  present  case,  that, 
according  to  this  statute,  the  trial  must  be  without  a  jury.  This 
decision,  however  correct  it  might  be,  was  very  unpopular  at  the 
time,  and  was  one  of  the  many  things  which  served  to  bring  Hutch- 
inson into  popular  odium.  But  whatever  may  be  thought  of  him 
as  a  politician,  as  a  judge  his  character  is  deserving  of  the  high- 
est commendation.  Although  a  graduate  of  Harvard  College,  he 
was  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits,  until  lie  abandoned  them  for 
law  and  politics,  but  his  legal  knowledge  was  highly  respectable  ;  he 
expressed  his  ideas  clearly,  and  administered  the  law  without  fear 
or  favor,  according  to  his  knowledge  and  ability.  As  a  historian, 
too,  his  memory  must  always  be  regarded  with  respect.  The  impar- 
tiality and  candor,  with  which  he  discusses  occurrences  in  which  he 
held  a  painful  position,  are  worthy  of  all  admiration,  while  the  labo- 
rious research,  the  accuracy,  and  faithfulness  of  detail,  of  which  his 
history  gives  evidence,  entitle  it  to  the  high  consideration  with 
which  it  is  universally  regarded  at  the  present  day. 


300  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

son,  lieutenant  governor  of  Massachusetts ;  Jonathan 
Warner  and  George  Jaffrey,  of  his  majesty's  council 
in  New  Hampshire  ;  Robert  Auchmuty,  judge  of  the 
court  of  vice  admiralty  for  Massachusetts  ;  John  An- 
drews, judge  of  the  court  of  vice  admiralty  for  Rhode 
Island  ;  Andrew  Oliver,  secretary  of  the  province  ; 
Robert  Trail,  collector  of  the  port  of  Portsmouth  ; 
John  Nutting,  collector  of  Salem  ;  Joseph  Harrison, 
collector  of  Boston.1 

The  trial  occupied  a  week.  The  fact  of  the  hom- 
icide was  clearly  proved  ;  but  it  appeared  that  nei- 
ther the  lieutenant  nor  any  of  his  superior  officers 
were  authorized  to  impress,  by  any  warrant  or  special 
authority  from  the  lords  of  the  admiralty;  and  the 
court  was  unanimously  of  opinion,  that  the  prisoners 
had  a  good  right  to  defend  themselves,  and  that 
they  ought  to  be  acquitted  of  murder,  with  which 
they  were  charged ;  and  that,  at  common  law,  the 
killing  would  not  have  amounted  to  manslaughter. 

The  prisoners  were  accordingly  discharged,  and  a 
midshipman  of  the  Rose  was  immediately  arrested  in 
an  action  for  damages  for  the  wound  inflicted  in  the 
arm  of  one  of  them,  and  gave  bail  in  the  sum  of 
three  hundred  pounds. 

1  It  was  with  great  difficulty  that  the  court  was  formed,  a  great  part 
of  the  gentlemen  named  in  the  commission  being  at  a  distance; 
and  the  inhabitants  had  the  mortification  to  perceive,  that  the  mem- 
bers of  his  majesty's  council  of  this  province,  all  of  whom  had  been 
included  in  former  commissions,  were  excluded  from  the  present; 
while  not  only  the  council  of  a  neighboring  colony,  but  even  pro 
tempore  collectors,  helped  to  constitute  this  court.  [Boston  Evening 
Post,  July  24, 1769. 


TRIAL   OF   CERTAIN    BRITISH    SOLDIERS 


BEFORE     THK 


SUPERIOR  COURT  OF  JUDICATURE, 


FOR  THE    MURDER  OF 


CRISPUS  ATTUCKS  AND  OTHERS. 


BOSTON,  1770. 


The  collision  between  the  British  soldiers  and  certain  citizens 
of  Boston  on  the  evening  of  March  5th,  1770,  resulted  in  three  trials 
of  those  engaged  in  it.  The  first  was  that  of  Captain  Preston ; 
the  second,  of  the  soldiers  under  his  command ;  and  the  third, 
of  those  who  were  supposed  to  have  fired  from  the  custom  house 
windows.  Of  the  first  and  last  trials  no  minutes  are  known  to 
exist.  When  that  of  the  soldiers  took  place,  John  Hodgson,  a  short- 
hand writer,  was  employed,  and  from  his  minutes  a  very  full  re- 
port of  the  trial,  making  a  volume  of  more  than  two  hundred 
pages,  was  immediately  published.  This  report,  with  some  addi- 
tions, was  reprinted  in  1807,  and  again  in  1824.  Before  the  trials 
took  place,  a  work  was  published,  of  which  the  following  is  the 
title  page  :  "  A  Short  Narrative  of  the  Horrid  Massacre  in  Boston, 
perpetrated  in  the  evening  of  the  fifth  day  of  March,  1770,  by  sol- 
diers of  the  29th  regiment;  which,  with  the  14th  regiment,  were 
then  quartered  there ;  with  some  Cbservations  on  the  State  of 
Things  prior  to  that  Catastrpphe.  Printed  by  order  of  the  Town  of 
Boston,  and  sold  by  Edes  &  Gill,  in  Queen  street,  and  T.  &  J. 
Fleet,  in  Cornhill,  1770."  In  the  appendix  to  this  work,  there  is  a 
large  number  of  depositions  taken  in  perpetuam  relating  to  the  sub- 
ject. This  publication  was  intended  principally  for  the  English 
market,  and  the  work  was  sent  there  by  a  vessel  hired  by  the  town  for 
the  purpose.  To  several  of  the  copies  there  were  appended  written 
certificates  of  the  justices  before  whom  the  depositions  were  taken, 
that  the  printed  copy  annexed  was  accurate,  and  also  of  Lieutenant 
Governor  Hutchinson,  under  the  seal  of  the  province,  that  the  per- 
sons before  whom  the  depositions  were  sworn  were  authorized  to 
administer  oaths.  A  copy  of  this  work,  with  the  certificates  ap- 
pended, was  presented  to  Bowdoin  College  by  James  Bowdoin,  and 
is  in  the  library  of  that  institution.  The  following  account  of  these 
trials  is  entitled  the  "  Boston  Massacre,"  not  from  any  inherent  pro- 
priety in  that  title,  but  because  the  transaction  was  so  called  at  the 
time  of  its  occurrence,  and  is  generally  known  by  that  name  at  the 
present  day. 


THE   BOSTON    MASSACRE. 


4 

ON  the  evening  of  the  fifth  of  March,  1770,  a  party 
of  soldiers,  of  his  Britannic  majesty's  twenty-ninth 
regiment  of  foot,  fired  upon  a  collection  of  citizens 
of  Boston,  and  caused  the  death  of  five  individuals. 
The  causes  of  this  occurrence,  denominated  in  the 
language  of  that  day  the  "  Boston  massacre,"  are  to 
be  found  in  the  difficulties  then  existing  between 
Great  Britain  and  the  American  colonies,  and  which 
were  every  day  increasing  in  consequence. 

Quartering  soldiers  upon  the  colonies  was  never 
a  popular  measure  in  America.  The  citizens  of  Bos- 
ton, in  particular,  resented  it  from  the  first ;  and  the 
most  sagacious  among  them  predicted  the  conse- 
quences, which  must  inevitably  result  from  this  mis- 
taken policy  on  the  part  of  ministers.  As  early  as 
May,  1769,  a  committee  of  the  general  court  remon- 
strated to  the  governor,  that  an  armament  by  sea 
and  land,  investing  Boston,  and  a  military  guard 


304  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

with  cannon  pointed  at  the  door  of  the  state  house, 
were  inconsistent  with  that  dignity  and  freedom  with 
which  they  had  a  right  to  deliberate,  consult,  and 
determine.  In  June  of  the  same  year,  the  house 
passed  resolves,  by  which  they  declared,  among  other 
things,  that  "  the  establishment  of  a  standing  army  in 
the  colony,  in  time  of  peace,  was  an  invasion  of 
natural  rights  ;  that  a  standing  army  was  not  known 
as  a  part  of  the  British  constitution  ;  and  that  send- 
ing an  armed  force  into  the  colony  under  pretence 
of  assisting  the  civil  authority  was  highly  dangerous 
to  the  people,  unprecedented  and  unconstitutional." 

The  policy  of  government  was  not  changed,  how- 
ever ;  and  the  natural  consequences  of  quartering  a 
foreign  soldiery  upon  an  unwilling  and  spirited  peo- 
ple soon  became  apparent.  Outrages  had  been 
committed  by  some  of  the  soldiers,  which  were 
promptly  resented  by  the  citizens,  and  quarrels  be- 
tween them  were  of  frequent  occurrence.  Every 
day  new  circumstances  arose  which  augmented  the 
animosity,  and  there  were  not  wanting  some  fiery 
spirits,  who,  bitterly  resenting  the  indignity  of  having 
soldiers  quartered  upon  the  town,  were  continually 
exciting  the  people  to  quarrel  with  the  troops. 

At  length,  a  private  of  the  twenty-ninth  regiment, 
being  provoked  by  insulting  words  from  one  of  the 
workmen  at  a  ropewalk  in  the  town,  resented  it,  and 
was  overpowered.  He  soon  returned  with  some 
soldiers,  between  whom  and  the  ropemakers  an  affray 
ensued,  which  terminated  in  the  defeat  of  the  former, 
and  the  wounding  of  one  of  their  number  in  a  very 
dangerous  manner.  This  occurrence  gave  rise  to 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  305 

great  excitement,  and  a  general  expectation  of  a 
serious  affray  between  the  citizens  and  the  soldiers. 

The  commanding  officer  of  the  regiment  made  a 
formal  complaint  on  the  same  day,  to  the  lieutenant 
governor,  of  the  frequent  abuses  offered  to  his  men, 
and,  in  particular,  of  the  conduct  of  the  ropemakers, 
on  the  occasion  just  referred  to.  On  Monday,  March 
fifth,  the  matter  was  laid  before  the  council,  when 
several  of  that  body  expressed  a  decided  opinion, 
that  the  people  never  would  be  satisfied  with  any 
thing  short  of  the  removal  of  the  troops.  The  coun- 
cil could  not  agree  upon  any  advice  for  the  lieuten- 
ant governor,  although  there  was  a  strong  apprehen- 
sion of  further  trouble. 

Early  in  the  evening  of  that  day,  it  became  ap- 
parent that  an  unusual  excitement  prevailed  in  Bos- 
ton. Clusters  of  citizens  were  observed  in  earnest 
conference  in  various  quarters  of  the  town,  and  par- 
ties of  soldiers  were  also  driving  about  as  if  they 
had  something  more  than  usual  upon  their  minds. 
About  eight  o'clock  one  of  the  bells  was  rung  as 
if  for  fire,  and  soon  after  large  bands  of  men  were 
seen  in  motion,  hurrying  forward  with  clubs  in  their 
hands,  and  uttering  the  fiercest  imprecations  against 
the  soldiers.  An  attack  was  soon  made  by  the  mob  in 
Dock  square  upon  some  soldiers  belonging  to  Murray's 
barracks,1  but  the  latter,  after  some  difficulty,  were 


1  Murray's  barracks  were  in  Brattle  street,  in  the  buildings  di- 
rectly opposite  the  little  alley  which  leads  from  the  bottom  of 
Cornhill.  A  sentinel  was  usually  stationed  in  this  alley,  (at  that 
day  called  Boylston's  alley,)  and  on  the  evening  referred  to,  a  few 
young  men,  who  were  disposed  to  go  through  the  alley,  observed 
26' 


306  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

shut  up  in  the  barracks  by  their  officers,  the  mob  fol- 
lowing them  to  the  gate  and  provoking  them  by  the 
most  abusive  epithets.  The  rioters  were  then  ad- 
dressed by  "  a  tall  large  man  in  a  red  cloak  and 
white  wig,"  and  immediately  rushed  to  King  street, 
now  State  street.  Meanwhile,  the  sentry  before  the 
custom  house,  in  that  street,  was  attacked  while  on 
duty.  He  loaded  his  gun,  and  retreated  up  the  steps  ; 
but  the  people  pressed  upon  him  with  bitter  impreca- 
tions, and  he  called  on  the  main  guard,  within  hearing, 
for  protection.1  Captain  Preston,  the  officer  of  the 
day,  sent  a  corporal  and  six  men  to  protect  the  sen- 
tinel, and  followed  them  himself.  The  mob  had  now 
received  a  great  accession  of  numbers,  and  the  soldiers 
on  their  way  were  hooted  at,  and  pelted  with  snow 
balls,  ice  and  sticks.  They  were  then  ordered  to  load. 
After  they  had  taken  their  station  before  the  sentinel  at 
the  custom  house,  and  were  pushing  off  the  people, 
one  of  them  received  a  blow  with  a  club,  which 
brought  him  to  the  ground.  Rising  immediately  he 
fired,  and  the  rest,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  fol- 
lowed his  example.  Three  men  were  instantly  killed, 

the  soldier  brandishing  his  sword  against  the  wall,  and  striking  fire 
for  his  own  amusement.  They  offered  to  pass  him,  and  were  chal- 
lenged, but  persisted  in  their  attempt,  and  one  of  them  received  a 
slight  wound  in  the  head.  A  crowd  soon  collected,  and  an  attack 
was  made  on  Murray's  barracks.  Snow's  History  of  Boston. 

1  The  custom  house  stood  at  the  corner  of  State  and  Exchange 
(then  Royal  Exchange  lane)  streets,  on  the  spot  where  the  Union 
Bank  building  now  stands.  On  the  opposite  corner  of  Exchange 
street  the  Royal  Exchange  tavern  stood.  The  main  guard  was 
regularly  stationed  near  the  head  of  State  street,  directly  opposite 
the  door  on  the  south  side  of  the  old  state  house,  (then  called  the 
town  house.)  The  twenty-ninth  regiment  was  quartered  in  Water 
and  Atkinson  streets. 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  307 

five  were  very  dangerously  wounded,  and  a  few  slight- 
ly. The  citizens  fled  precipitately  from  the  scene,  and 
the  soldiers  withdrew  to  the  main  guard,  which  was 
strengthened  by  additional  companies.  Intense  ex- 
citement immediately  prevailed  throughout  all  classes 
of  citizens.  The  streets  were  filled  with  people,  and 
there  was  danger  of  a  general  and  bloody  conflict. 
But  by  the  judicious  efforts  of  the  lieutenant  gover- 
nor, the  officers,  and  many  respectable  citizens,  quiet 
was  restored,  and  the  great  body  of  the  people  retired 
to  their  homes.  A  court,  composed  of  justices  of 
the  peace,  was  immediately  held,  and  search  was 
made  for  Captain  Preston.  After  several  hours  he 
surrendered  himself,  and  was  committed  to  prison, 
at  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  on  a  charge  of  mur- 
der. The  soldiers  also  surrendered,  and  were  com- 
mitted to  prison  on  the  next  day. 

The  funeral  solemnities  of  those  who  were  killed 
by  the  fire  of  the  soldiers  were  conducted  with  great 
pomp  and  splendor.  Crispus  Attucks,  a  mulatto, 
and  James  Caldwell,  who  were  strangers  in  Boston, 
were  borne  from  Faneuil  Hall,  Samuel  Maverick, 
a  youth  of  seventeen,  from  his  mother's  house  in 
Union  street,  and  Samuel  Gray,  from  his  brother's,  in 
Royal  Exchange  lane.1  The  four  hearses  formed  a 
junction  in  King  street,  at  the  place  where  the  de- 
ceased fell,  and  thence  an  immense  procession  march- 
ed in  columns  of  six  deep  through  the  main  street  to 
the  central  (Granary)  burying  ground,  where  the  four 
bodies  were  deposited  in  one  tomb,  amidst  the  solemn 

1  Patrick  Can  was  still  alive,  although  mortally  wounded.  He 
died  in  a  few  days  afterwards. 


308  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

tolling  of  all  the  bells  in  Boston  and  the  neighboring 
towns. 

As  might  be  expected,  this  tragedy  "  wrought  the 
whole  people  of  Massachusetts,  and  above  all,  the 
inhabitants  of  Boston,  to  the  highest  pitch  of  rage 
and  indignation.  The  populace  breathed  only  ven- 
geance. Even  minds  better  instructed,  and  of  higher 
principles  than  the  multitude,  in  the  excitement  of 
the  moment,  could  not  endure  the  doctrine,  that  it 
was  possible  for  an  armed  soldiery  to  fire  upon  and 
kill  unarmed  citizens,  and  commit  a  crime  less  than 
murder.  Political  animosity  and  natural  antipathy  to 
troops  stationed  in  the  metropolis,  sharpened  this 
vindictive  spirit.  The  friends  of  the  government 
were  either  silent,  or  only  expressed  regret  and  lamen- 
tation at  the  event.  The  friends  of  freedom  were 
loud  in  their  indignation,  and  clamorous  for  that  jus- 
tice which  declares  that  blood  shall  be  the  penalty 
of  blood." 

Meanwhile  there  had  been  several  meetings  of  the 
people,  and  a  committee  was  appointed,  which  pro- 
ceeded to  the  examination  of  witnesses,  "  in  order  to 
show  to  the  world,  and  especially  to  the  friends  of 
the  colonies  in  England,  that  there  were  just  grounds 
for  insisting  upon  the  removal  of  the  troops."  A 
narrative  was  also  given  of  the  transaction,  which 
was  adopted  by  the  town  and  was  widely  distributed, 
differing  materially  from  the  facts  as  subsequently 
proved,  and  calculated  to  increase  the  excitement. 
Under  such  circumstances,  the  British  soldiers  were 
to  be  tried  for  their  lives,  and  serious  fears  were  en- 
tertained, not  only  by  their  friends  but  by  the  candid 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  309 

and  moderate  of  all  parties,  that  they  would  not  be 
dealt  with  by  even-handed  justice. 

But  among  the  friends  of  freedom  there  were  men 
who  viewed  this  matter  in  the  calm  and  rational  light 
of  truth  and  justice.  Anxious  for  the  honor  of  the 
town,  doubly  anxious  for  the  cause  of  humanity,  they 
felt  an  earnest  desire  that  justice  should  not  fall  a 
sacrifice  in  her  own  temple.  Of  these  John  Adams 
and  Josiah  Quincy,  junior,  deserve  most  honorable 
mention.  Sympathizing  most  deeply  with  the  mass 
of  their  fellow  citizens  in  their  hatred  of  the  instru- 
ments of  their  oppressors,  and  in  their  detestation  of 
the  principles  they  had  been  sent  hither  to  maintain, 
no  men  had  more  openly  or  pathetically  appealed  to 
their  fellow  citizens,  or  had  more  studiously  excited 
their  resentment,  both  in  the  gazettes  and  in  Faneuil 
Hall,  against  the  troops  and  their  employers.  What, 
then,  must  have  been  their  surprise,  when  Captain 
Preston  solicited  their  professional  services  in  his  own 
behalf,  and  in  that  of  the  soldiers !  To  understand  the 
difficulty  of  their  situation,  it  is  necessary  to  realize 
the  exasperated  state  of  public  feeling.  The  spirit  of 
revenge  glowed  with  a  fervor  almost  universal.  On 
the  one  hand,  were  the  obligations  of  humanity,  offi- 
cial duty,  and  the  strong  desire  that  justice  should 
be  done ;  on  the  other,  the  confidence  of  their  po- 
litical friends,  popularity,  and  that  general  affection 
which  their  public  course  had  attained  for  them  in 
so  remarkable  a  degree,  among  their  fellow  citizens, 
were  to  be  hazarded.  After  deliberation  and  con- 
sultation with  each  other  and  their  friends,  both  of 
these  patriots  yielded  all  personal  considerations  to 


310  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

the  higher  obligations  of  humanity  and  official  duty. 
They  braved  the  fury  of  the  moment,  and  interposed 
their  learning,  talents,  and  well  earned  influence,  to 
that  torrent  of  passions,  which,  for  a  time,  threatened 
to  bear  down  the  landmarks  of  justice.1 

The  regular  time  for  holding  the  superior  court 
was  the  next  week  after  the  tragedy  in  Boston.  The 
grand  jury  found  bills  of  indictment  against  Captain 
Preston  and  his  eight  soldiers  for  wilful  murder,  but 
the  court  thought  fit  to  continue  the  trials  to  the  next 
term,  when  the  people  would  probably  be  more  free 
from  excitement,  and  a  more  dispassionate  hearing 
might  be  expected.  But  it  is  related,  that  a  con- 
siderable number  of  the  most  active  persons,  in  all 
public  measures  of  the  town,  having  dined  together, 
went  in  a  body  from  table  to  the  superior  court,  then 
sitting,  and  one  of  their  number,  in  behalf  of  the 
town,  pressed  the  bringing  on  of  the  trial  at  the  same 
term  with  so  much  spirit,  that  the  judges  did  not 
think  it  advisable  to  abide  by  their  own  order,  but 
appointed  a  day  for  the  trials,  and  adjourned  the 
court  for  that  purpose.  They  did  not  take  place, 


1  Memoirs  of  Josiah  Quincy,  Jr.,  p.  32.  Hutchinson  insinuates, 
that  the  counsel  of  the  soldiers  were  influenced  by  sordid  motives. 
He  says :  "  Captain  Preston  had  been  well  advised  to  retain  two 
gentlemen  of  the  law,  who  were  strongly  attached  to  the  cause 
of  liberty,  and  to  stick  at  no  reasonable  fees  for  that  purpose."  It  is 
surely  no  discredit  to  lawyers,  under  any  circumstances,  to  receive 
compensation  for  their  services.  But  in  the  present  case  no  amount 
of  fees  could  compensate  these  popular  leaders  for  assuming  the  de- 
fence of  an  act  so  universally  condemned.  Their  motives  were  the 
hope  of  preventing  a  great  wrong;  their  reward,  the  consciousness 
of  doing  their  duty. 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  311 

however,  until  the  next  term,  several  months  after- 
wards. 

The  case  of  Captain  Thomas  Preston  first  came  on 
for  trial  before  the  superior  court  of  judicature,  court 
of  assize  and  general  gaol  delivery,  at  Boston,  on  the 
twenty-fourth  of  October,  1770.  There  were  five 
indictments  against  him,  in  which  he  was  charged 
with  being  present,  aiding,  and  abetting  the  murder  of 
Samuel  Maverick,  Samuel  Gray,  Crispus  Attucks, 
James  Caldwell,  and  Patrick  Carr,  on  the  evening  of 
the  fifth  of  March.1  A  few  witnesses  testified  that 
he  ordered  his  men  to  fire,  but  their  evidence  was 
encountered  by  that  of  several  other  witnesses,  who 
stood  near  to  him,  and  were  conversing  with  him  at 
a  different  place  from  that  which  the  witnesses  for 
the  crown  swore  he  was  in ;  and  the  judges,  in  sum- 
ming up  the  evidence  to  the  jury,  were  unanimous 
in  their  opinion,  that  he  did  not  order  his  men  to 
fire,  but  if  he  did,  they  were  of  opinion,  that,  from 
the  evidence  of  many  other  witnesses,  the  assault, 
both  on  the  officer  and  men  while  upon  duty,  was  so 
violent,  that  the  homicide  could  not  amount  even  to 
manslaughter,  but  must  be  considered  as  excusable 
homicide.4  The  jury  soon  agreed  upon  a  verdict  of 
not  guilty. 

1  Records  of  the  court.  The  names  of  the  jury  were,  William 
Frobisher,  Joseph  Trescott,  Neal  Mclntire,  Thomas  Mayo,  Josiah 
Sprague,  Joseph  Guild,  Jonathan  Parker,  Gilbert  Deblois,  Philip 
Dumaresque,  William  Hill,  William  Wait  Wallis,  and  James 
Barrick. 

*  Hutchinson,  who  relates  this,  probably  states  the  instructions 
of  the  court  to  the  jury  quite  as  strongly  in  favor  of  the  accused  as 
they  in  truth  were. 


312  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

The  trial  occupied  about  six  days.  In  the  course 
of  it,  Mr.  Quincy  pushed  the  examination  and  cross- 
examination  of  the  witnesses  to  such  an  extent,  that 
Mr.  Adams,  in  order  to  check  it,  told  him  that  if  he 
would  not.  desist,  he  should  decline  to  have  any  thing 
further  to  do  in  the  cause.  The  prisoner  and  his 
friends  were  alarmed,  and  consulted  about  engaging 
other  counsel ;  but  Mr.  Adams,  sensible  that  there 
was  sufficient  evidence  to  obtain  a  favorable  verdict 
from  an  impartial  jury,  had  no  intention  to  aban- 
don his  client ;  he  only  felt  for  the  honor  of  the 
town,  which,  he  apprehended  would  suffer  yet  more, 
if  the  witnesses  were  examined  too  closely  and  par- 
ticularly, by  which  means  more  truth  would  be 
drawn  from  them  than  had  an  immediate  con- 
nection with  the  soldiers'  firing,  by  or  without  the 
orders  of  the  captain.  When  the  trial  was  ending, 
Judge  Lynde,  toward  the  close  of  his  charge  said : 
"  Happy  am  I  to  find,  after  such  strict  examination, 
the  conduct  of  the  prisoner  appear  in  so  fair  a  light ; 
yet  I  feel  myself  deeply  affected,  that  this  affair  turns 
out  so  much  to  the  disgrace  of  every  person  concern- 
ed against  him,  and  so  much  to  the  shame  of  the 
town  in  general."  After  his  acquittal,  Captain  Pres- 
ton retired  to  the  castle,  and  remained  there  until  he 
sailed  for  England.1 

The  trial  of  the  eight  soldiers,  William  Wemms, 
James  Hartegan,  William  McCauley,  Hugh  White, 
Matthew  Killroy,  William  Warren,  John  Carroll,  and 

1  Gordon's  History  of  the  American  Revolution,  i.  193.  Of  this 
trial  it  is  not  known  that  any  minutes  ezist. 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  313 

Hugh  Montgomery,  commenced  on  Saturday,  No- 
vember twelfth,  1770,  before  the  superior  court.1 
There  were  five  indictments  against  the  prisoners,  in 
which  they  were  charged  both  as  principals  and  acces- 
sories with  the  murder  of  the  five  citizens  who  were 
killed.  The  prosecution  was  conducted  by  Robert 

1  The  justices  of  the  court  who  were  present  were  Benjamin 
Lynde,  John  Gushing,  Peter  Oliver  and  Edmund  Trowbridge. 
Hutchinson,  the  historian,  was  at  that  time  the  chief  justice,  but 
had  ceased  to  perform  the  duties  of  the  office.  Lynde,  who  pre- 
sided on  this  occasion,  was  born  in  Salem  in  1700.  He  came  upon 
the  bench  in  1745 ;  when  Hutchinson  was  made  governor,  Lynde 
succeeded  him  as  chief  justice.  He  resigned  the  office  when  he 
was  seventy-two  years  old,  and  died  at  the  age  of  eighty. 

Cushing  was  born  in  Scituate  in  1G95,  and  was  appointed  a  judge 
in  1747.  He  resigned  his  office  in  1771,  and  died  in  1778,  aged 
eighty-two  years. 

Oliver  was  a  native  of  Boston,  born  in  1712.  He  was  graduated 
at  Cambridge  in  1730,  but  never  studied  any  profession.  He  was 
raised  to  the  superior  court,  however,  after  having  been  a  judge  of 
the  court  of  common  pleas  several  years,  and  was  appointed  chief  jus- 
tice on  the  resignation  of  Judge  Lynde  in  1772.  From  his  political 
predilections  he  became  extremely  obnoxious  to  the  people.  Arti- 
cles of  impeachment  were  once  drawn  up  against  him,  but  he  was 
protected  by  the  governor.  He  left  the  province  in  1776,  when  the 
troops  evacuated  Boston,  whence  he  went  to  England  and  died  in 
Birmingham  in  1791,  aged  seventy-nine.  He  was  a  thorough  roy- 
alist, and,  on  leaving  the  country,  fully  reciprocated  with  the  peo- 
ple, the  hatred  with  which  they  regarded  him.  He  was  honored 
with  a  degree  of  LL.  D.  by  the  university  of  Oxford.  His  family 
and  that  of  Copley,  the  painter,  father  of  Lord  Lyndhurst,  were 
connected  by  marriage. 

Trowbridge,  the  remaining  judge,  was  one  of  the  most  learned 
lawyers  that  ever  sat  on  the  bench  in  Massachusetts.  He  was 
born  in  Newton  in  1708,  and  was  graduated  at  Cambridge  at  the 
age  of  nineteen.  He  did  not  lose  the  popular  favor,  although 
inclined  to  the  prerogative  party  in  politics.  He  remained  in  the 
country  unmolested  by  the  revolution,  and  retained  the  respect  of 
the  public  through  life  ;  but  he  retired  to  private  life  and  died  in 
1793.  His  memory  is  still  held  in  respect. 
27 


314  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

Treat  Paine  and  Samuel  Q,uincy.  John  Adams, 
Josiah  Quincy,  and  Sampson  Salter  Blowers1  appear- 
ed as  counsel  for  the  prisoners.  When  the  jury  was 
impaneled,  ten  of  the  persons  returned  by  the  sheriff 
were  challenged  peremptorily  by  the  prisoners,  and 
eleven  were  challenged  for  cause,  and  all  of  them  were 
set  aside.  Every  juryman  from  the  town  of  Boston 
being  challenged  for  cause  and  set  aside,  there  was  not 
an  inhabitant  of  that  town  on  the  jury,  which  was 
composed  of  the  following  individuals  :  —  Joseph 
Mayo,  foreman,  and  Nathaniel  Davis,  of  Roxbury ; 
Abraham  Wheeler  and  Edward  Peirce,  of  Dorches- 
ter ;  Josiah  Thayer,  of  Braintree ;  Benjamin  Fisher, 
of  Dedham  ;  Samuel  Davenport  and  Joseph  Haugh- 
ton,  of  Milton  ;  Consider  Atherton,  of  Stoughton ; 
Jacob  Gushing,  Jr.,  Josiah  Lane,  and  Jonathan  Burr, 
of  Hingham. 

The  case  was  opened  for  the  crown  by  Samuel 
Quincy,  and  a  large  number  of  witnesses  were  called 
to  prove  the  allegations  in  the  indictment.  They 
fully  identified  the  prisoners  as  the  soldiers  who 
fired  on  the  people  ;  but  the  proof  was  not  very 
precise  as  to  the  actual  effect  of  each  soldier's  firing, 
with  the  exception  of  Killroy  and  Montgomery.  In 
regard  to  the  former,  a  witness  testified  that  he  saw 
him  among  the  soldiers.  Samuel  Gray  was  standing 
near  the  witness,  and  after  one  gun  had  been  fired,  the 
witness  cried  out  to  Killroy  not  to  fire,  but  he  imme- 

1  He  was  graduated  at  Cambridge  in  1763,  and  was  made  a  bar- 
rister in  1773  after  this  trial.  Being  a  royalist  he  left  the  province 
at  the  revolution,  and  was  subsequently,  in  1798,  made  chief  jus- 
tice of  the  supreme  court  of  Nova  Scotia. 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  315 

diately  fired,  and  Gray,  who  was  taking  no  part  in 
the  disturbance,  fell  dead.  It  was  also  testified,  that 
Killroy  had  previously  said  he  would  never  miss  an 
opportunity,  when  he  had  one,  to  fire  on  the  inhabit- 
ants, and  that  he  had  wished  for  an  opportunity  ever 
since  he  landed.  It  also  appeared,  that  he  was  one 
of  the  soldiers  who  were  engaged  in  the  affray  at  the 
ropewalk  a  few  days  before  the  affair  in  King  street. 
It  was  also  in  evidence,  that  his  bayonet  was  bloody 
the  next  morning  after  the  affray.  In  regard  to 
Montgomery  it  was  testified,  that  he  was  the  first 
person  who  fired.  He  was  struck  a  violent  blow, 
which  brought  him  to  the  ground,  and  his  gun  flew 
out  of  his  hand.  He  immediately  recovered  it,  and 
instantly  fired.  A  witness  declared  that  he  thought 
he  pointed  towards  Attucks,  who  fell  with  two 
others. 

Witnesses  were  also  introduced  to  show  the  origin 
of  the  affray,  and  to  prove  that  the  blame  was  attribu- 
table to  the  soldiers,  and  that  the  circumstances  were 
not  such  as  to  justify  them  in  firing.  Their  testimony 
was  as  follows  :  — 

Joseph  Hiller.  —  I  was  in  King  street  at  the  time 
the  soldiers  fired  at  the  people  on  the  fifth  of  March. 
I  was  at  the  north  end  of  the  town  when  the  bells 
rung,  and  when  I  came  to  the  middle  of  the  town,  I 
was  told  there  was  no  fire,  but  a  rumpus  betwixt  the 
soldiers  and  the  inhabitants.  I  passed  on,  the  bells 
still  ringing.  When  I  came  to  Dock  square,  there 
were  some  persons  there,  who  told  me  it  was  danger- 
ous to  go  up ;  they  seemed  to  be  like  people  that 
were  afraid  to  pass,  because  of  the  danger ;  others 


316  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

were  going  up ;  I  went  up,  and  when  I  got  past  the 
alley,  the  street  was  very  clear  of  people  ;  I  hardly 
saw  any  body.  I  came  to  the  town-house,  and  saw 
about  thirty  lads.  I  have  often  seen  more  collected 
for  their  diversion.  I  saw  the  sentry  upon  the  steps 
of  the  custom-house  door  ;  I  heard  him  say  nothing, 
but  he  had  his  gun  waving,  as  if  it  was  to  defend 
himself,  or  to  exasperate  the  people.  I  thought  to 
speak  to  him,  but  thinking  he  might  insult  me,  I  de- 
clined ;  I  began  to  go  away,  and  met  the  party  of 
soldiers  coming  down  ;  that  made  me  stop,  because 
when  they  got  to  the  custom-house  there  was  a 
noise  something  like  what  they  call  cheers,  and  the 
people  went  more  to  the  middle  of  the  street.  After 
the  soldiers  had  passed  through  them,  I  went  down 
again ;  as  I  passed  before  them  there  were  very  few 
people.  I  passed  without  the  people,  and  inclined 
more  to  the  custom-house,  the  greater  part  of  the  sol- 
diers being  full  to  my  view.  I  was  walking  right  be- 
fore them.  They  had  their  guns  rested  on  their  hips  ; 
when  I  passed  the  last  man  on  the  left,  the  first  gun 
was  fired  from  the  right.  I  should  think  the  time 
might  be  twenty  seconds  before  the  first  gun  was 
fired  from  the  time  they  formed.  In  a  short  time 
there  was  another,  and  then  very  soon  another,  and 
then  there  was  a  short  space  of  time  again,  before 
the  last  guns  were  fired.  A  little  boy  ran  along  and 
cried  fire !  fire !  fire !  as  people  generally  do  when 
there  is  a  fire  ;  a  soldier  pointed  his  gun  at  him  and 
fired,-  but  did  not  hit  him ;  he  was  the  last  but  one  on 
the  left.  I  did  not  mind  the  first  gun,  thinking  it 
was  only  powder  to  scare  the  people  :  when  the  next 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  317 

were  fired,  they  were  scattering.  After  the  firing 
ceased,  a  little  boy  came  and  told  us  some  persons 
were  killed.  I  saw  them  lying  in  the  street.  I  did 
not  imagine  it  was  anybody  killed,  but  supposed  that 
they  had  been  scared  and  run  away,  and  left  their 
great  coats  behind  them.  I  saw  nothing  like  an 
attack  that  could  produce  any  such  consequences. 
I  went  to  look  at  the  mulatto  man,  and  heard  a  noise 
like  the  cocking  of  firelocks,  but  an  officer  passed 
before  them  and  said,  "  do  not  fire  on  the  inhabi- 
tants." The  street  was  in  a  manner  clear  ;  it  was  as 
hush  as  at  twelve  o'clock  at  night ;  the  noise  of  the 
cocking  seemed  to  come  from  the  right,  and  passed 
on  to  the  left. 

"  How  many  guns  were  fired  ?" 

"  Six  was  the  least,  and  one  missed  fire." 

"  How  many  soldiers  were  there  ?" 

"  Six  or  eight." 

"  Did  you  see  any  blows  given,  or  any  thing 
thrown  ?  " 

"  No,  and  I  was  there  the  whole  time." 

"  Did  you  see  anybody  strike  the  soldiers'  guns  ?" 

"  No." 

"Did  you  hear  any  huzzaing  when  the  soldiers 
came  down  ?" 

"  There  seemed  to  be  a  huzza,  but  when  I  went 
down  and  passed  them,  they  were  very  still.  There 
was  shouting  when  the  soldiers  first  went  down,  and 
•it  was  not  two  minutes  before  they  fired." 

Benjamin  Burdick  —  a  barber.  I  was  in  King 
street  on  the  evening  of  the  fifth  of  March.  When 
I  first  came  there,  I  went  immediately  up  to  one  of 

27* 


318  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

the  soldiers,  which  I  take  to  be  that  man  who  is  bald 
on  the  head  (pointing  to  Montgomery)  ;  I  asked  him 
if  any  of  the  soldiers  were  loaded,  he  said,  "  yes ;" 
I  asked  him  if  they  were  going  to  fire,  he  said,  "  yes, 
by  the  eternal  God ;"  and  pushed  at  me  with  his 
bayonet,  which  I  put  by  with  a  Highland  broad 
sword  which  was  in  my  hand.  A  short  time  before 
this,  a  young  man  who  boarded  with  me  told  me 
that  several  of  the  soldiers  had  a  spite  at  him,  and 
he  believed  he  was  in  danger.  I  had  seen  two  of 
them  about  my  house,  one  of  whom  was  hearkening  at 
the  window.  I  saw  him  again  near  the  house,  and 
asked  him  what  he  was  after :  "  Was  it  not  you," 
says  I,  "  that  was  hearkening  at  my  window  last 
night  ?"  "  What  if  it  was  ?"  he  said.  I  told  him  to 
march  off,  and  he  damned  me,  at  which  I  beat  him 
till  he  had  enough  of  it,  and  he  then  went  off.  The 
reason  of  my  carrying  a  sword  was,  the  soldiers  spied 
the  young  man  in  the  lane  arid  dogged  him,  for  he 
had  been  very  active  in  the  affray  at  the  ropewalks  : 
they  said  they  would  sometime  or  other  have  satis- 
faction, and  I  considered  myself  liable  to  be  insulted 
likewise.  When  alarmed  by  the  cry  of  fire,  and  I 
had  got  below  the  house,  my  wife  called  after  me, 
and  said  "it  is  not  fire,  it  is  an  affray  in  King  street, 
if  you  are  going,  take  this,"  so  I  took  it,  and  ran 
down,  and  I  asked  the  soldier  what  I  just  now  told 
you.  I  knocked  the  bayonet  with  a  sword,  which 
I  had  in  my  hand ;  another  pushed  at  me,  and  I 
struck  his  gun  ;  my  face  was  now  towards  the  sol- 
diers. I  heard  the  first  gun  go  off,  and  then  the 
second  gun  went  off.  As  I  was  looking  to  see  if 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  319 

anybody  was  killed,  I  saw  the  tall  man  standing  in  a 
line  with  me.  I  saw  him  fall. 

"  How  long  had  the  bells  been  ringing  before  you 
came  from  home  ?" 

"  I  thought  it  was  nine  o'clock,  and  did  not  think 
any  thing  else,  till  somebody  cried  fire." 

"  Did  you  strike  before  the  firing  ?" 

"  Yes." 

"  Did  you  strike  as  hard  as  you  could  ?" 

"  Yes,  and  hit  the  lock  of  his  gun,  and  if  I  had 
struck  a  little  lower,  I  should  have  left  a  mark  that  I 
could  have  sworn  to." 

"  Was  the  sword  in  your  hand  drawn  ?" 

"  I  drew  it  when  the  soldier  pushed  at  me,  and 
struck  at  him  as  I  have  mentioned." 

"  Which  gun  went  off  first  ?" 

"  I  took  it  to  be  the  right  hand  man/' 

"  Where  did  that  soldier  you  struck  at  stand  ?" 

"  I  believe  the  fourth  or  fifth  man  from  the  corner 
of  Exchange  lane." 

"  How  many  soldiers  were  there  ?" 

"  I  did  not  count  them,  it  appeared  to  me  there 
were  six  or  eight." 

"  The  man  that  said  he  would  fire  by  the  eternal 
God,  where  did  he  stand  ?" 

"  He  was  about  the  middle." 

"  Was  you  there  when  the  first  gun  was  fired  ?" 

"  Yes." 

"  What  was  the  immediate  occasion  of  that  ?" 

"  I  do  not  know,  I  had  only  walked  over  from 
Quaker  lane  till  I  came  to  the  soldiers,  that  was  all 
the  time  I  had." 


320  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

"  Did  you  see  anything  extraordinary  to  induce 
them  to  fire  that  gun  ?" 

"Nothing  but  a  short  stick  was  thrown,  which 
seemed  to  go  clear  over  all  their  heads.  I  heard  a 
clattering  of  their  guns,  but  what  was  the  occasion 
of  it  I  do  not  know." 

"  Might  not  their  iron  ramrods  occasion  it  ?" 

"  No,  I  suppose  they  knocked  one  gun  against 
another  in  taking  their  places.  When  the  mulatto 
man  was  dead,  I  went  up  and  met  Dr.  Gardner  and 
Mr.  Brindley.  I  asked  them  to  come  and  see  the 
mulatto,  and  as  we  stooped  to  take  up  the  man,  the 
soldiers  presented  their  arms  again,  as  if  they  had 
been  going  to  fire,  Captain  Preston  came,  pushed  up 
their  guns,  and  said,  '  stop  firing,  do  not  fire.'  I 
went  to  them  to  see  if  I  could  know  their  faces 
again ;  Captain  Preston  looked  out  between  two  of 
them,  and  spoke  to  me,  which  took  off  my  attention 
from  them." 

"  From  where  was  that  stick  thrown  ?" 

"  From  Royal  Exchange  lane,  and  it  flew  over 
their  heads  almost  as  high  as  the  sign." 

"  What  did  you  take  to  be  the  occasion  of  the 
soldier's  answer  to  you  ?" 

"I  do  not  know,  unless  he  was  affronted  at  my 
asking  the  question  of  him." 

"  Did  you  see  anybody  strike  the  soldiers  before 
you  struck  with  the  sword  ?" 

"  No,  I  had  not  time." 

"  What  distance  of  time  was  there  between  the 
first  and  second  gun  ?" 

"  A  very  short  space,  I  cannot  say  exactly." 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  321 

Bartholomew  Kneeland  —  a  merchant.  On  the 
fifth  of  March,  I  heard  the  bells  ring  after  nine,  and 
went  to  the  front  door,  followed  by  my  sister  and 
two  others  of  the  family ;  I  stood  there  about  five 
minutes,  and  saw  a  number  of  soldiers,  about  ten  or  a 
dozen,  coming  towards  the  town  pump ;  they  seemed 
to  make  a  noise,  and  one  of  them  got  nearly  opposite 
to  me,  and  hallooed,  "  damn  you,  what  do  you  do 
there  ?"  I  made  him  no  answer,  he  came  up  to  me, 
and  pointed  his  naked  bayonet  at  my  breast,  and 
held  it  there  some  time,  and  told  me  to  get  in  ;  I  told 
him  to  go  along ;  he  went  towards  the  post  office. 

"  Do  you  know  what  regiment  he  belonged  to  ?" 

"  To  the  twenty-ninth." 

"  Did  he  bid  you  get  in  when  hs  asksd  you  what 
you  did  there  ?" 

"  Yes.  In  a  little  while  I  heard  a  volley  of  small 
arms,  which  I  took  to  be  in  King  street." 

Nathaniel  Thayer  —  sealer  of  wood.  On  the  even- 
ing of  the  fifth  of  March  I  heard  a  very  great  noise, 
and  my  wife  said,  "  you  had  better  go  to  the  door 
and  see  what  the  matter  is."  I  went,  and  saw  about 
twenty  people  coming  through  Boylston's  alley. 
There  was  a  terrible  swearing,  and  they  had  clubs 
and  swords,  and  one  thing  and  another  ;  there  came 
seven  soldiers  from  the  main  guard  without  any  coats 
on :  driving  along,  swearing,  cursing  and  damning 
like  wild  creatures,  saying,  "  where  are  they  ?  Cut 
them  to  pieces,  slay  them  all."  They  came  up  to 
my  door  ;  I  shut  my  door  and  went  in ;  they  went 
round  the  back  lane  to  King  street ;  this  was  after 
nine,  before  any  guns  were  fired. 


322  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

Nathaniel  Appleton  —  a  merchant.  On  the  evening 
of  the  fifth  of  March,  a  little  after  nine,  as  I  was  sit- 
ting in  my  house,  I  heard  a  considerable  noise  in  the 
street.  I  went  to  the  door,  and  found  the  chief  of 
the  noise  was  at  the  bottom  of  the  street.  I  inquired 
the  reason,  and  was  told  the  soldiers  and  inhabitants 
were  fighting  ;  I  waited  at  the  door  a  minute  or  two ; 
people  were  running  down  in  twos  and  threes  at  a 
time ;  at  length  the  noise  subsided,  and  seemed  to  be 
down  by  Dock  square  ;  hearing  the  bells  ring  and  the 
cry  of  fire,  I  asked  where  it  was  ?  I  was  answered 
there  was  none,  but  the  inhabitants  and  soldiers  were 
fighting.  There  soon  came  a  party  of  soldiers  from 
the  southward,  ten  or  twelve  I  think  ;  they  had  short 
clothes.  I  think,  I  saw  some  white  sleeves  amongst 
them,  with  bayonets  in  their  hands,  but  I  apprehend- 
ed no  danger  from  them ;  I  stood  on  the  step  of  the 
door,  they  appeared  to  be  pushing  right  down  the 
street.  When  they  got  a  few  rods  from  the  door, 
their  course  began  to  bend  towards  us ;  still  I  appre- 
hended nothing  but  that  they  were  coming  to  walk 
on  the  side  of  the  way ;  then  they  lifted  up  their 
weapons,  and  I  began  to  apprehend  danger ;  they 
said  something,  I  do  not  know  what  it  was,  but  I 
went  in  as  fast  as  I  could,  and  shut  the  door  imme- 
diately. They  were  within  half  a  foot  of  it ;  had  it 
been  open  a  second  longer  they  would  have  had  the 
command  of  the  door ;  but  I  was  too  quick  for  them 
and  bolted  my.  door,  went  up  chamber,  looked  out  of 
the  window,  and  saw  people  flying  here  and  there 
like  pigeons,  and  the  soldiers  running  about  like  mad 
men  in  a  fury,  till  they  got  to  the  bottom  of  the 
street. 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  323 

John  Appleton  —  a.  young  lad,  son  of  Nathaniel  Ap- 
pleton.  About  nine  o'clock  I  was  sent  on  an  errand 
into  King  street.  I  heard  a  noise  and  ran  out  of  the 
shop  where  I  could  see  what  was  the  matter.  I 
went  into  the  middle  of  the  street,  and  saw  some 
talking  to  the  sentry  ;  I  thought  they  were  going  to 
quarrel,  and  came  away.  Coming  to  Jenkins's  Alley, 
my  brother  with  me,  there  came  out  about  tw'enty 
soldiers  with  cutlasses  in  their  hands  ;  my  brother  fell 
and  they  ran  past  him,  and  were  going  to  kill  me ;  I 
said,  "  soldiers,  spare  my  life,"  one  of  them  said, 
"  no,  damn  you,  we  will  kill  you  all ; "  he  lifted  his 
cutlass  and  struck  at  my  head,  but  I  dodged  and  got 
the  blow  on  my  shoulder.  I  believe  the  cutlass  was 
not  drawn,  for  it  rattled  on  my  shoulder  as  if  it  had 
been  sheathed. 

Thomas  Marshall1  —  a  tailor.  I  was  at  Colonel  Jack- 
son's a  few  minutes  after  nine  on  the  fifth  of  March. 
When  I  came  out  into  Dock  square,  all  was  quiet ;  I 
saw  no  persons  in  the  whole  square.  I  came  up  Royal 
Exchange  lane ;  I  saw  nobody  there.  I  saw  the  sen- 
try at  the  head  of  it  in  peace  and  quietness,  nobody 
troubling.  I  never  saw  King  street  more  quiet  in 
my  life.  I  went  into  my  house,  where  was  a  kins- 
man of  mine  ;  I  asked  him  how  he  did,  and  while  I 
was  speaking,  the  young  man  in  the  shop  knocked 
for  me.  I  went  into  the  shop,  and  in  half  a  minute, 
I  heard  the  cry  of  murder  once  or  twice.  "  There  is 
mischief,"  said  I,  "  at  a  distance  ; "  "  so  there  is," 
said  he.  I  opened  the  front  door  to  see ;  but  I  saw 

1  Colonel  Marshall  lived  in  the  next  house  to  the  custom  house. 


324  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

nobody.  I  heard  a  noise,  which  seemed  to  come 
from  Howe's  barracks.  I  stopped  a  little  space,  and 
the  first  I  saw  enter  King  street  was  a  party  from  the 
main  guard,  ten  or  twelve  of  whom  came  rushing  out 
violently,  their  arms  glittering  by  the  moonlight,  and 
crying  out  "  damn  them  where  are  they,  by  Jesus  let 
them  come."  Some  of  them  turned  into  Pudding 
lane,  and  some  went  by  the  townhouse  steps  ;  I  went 
in  and  told  my  family  to  keep  themselves  easy,  for 
there  was  no  disturbance  near  the  house.  I  went  to 
the  door  again,  and  saw  a  party  about  the  head  of 
Quaker  lane ;  they  used  much  the  same  expressions 
as  the  aforesaid  party,  and  cried  fire.  They  passed 
over  the  way,  and  the  shade  of  the  moon-light  hin- 
dered me  from  seeing  whether  they  went  down 
Royal  Exchange  lane  or  up  towards  the  town  house. 
Something  strikes  my  mind,  I  am  not  positive  now, 
but  I  think  it  was  that  night,  there  were  a  few  boys 
round  the  sentry.  I  went  and  said,  "  boys,  you  have 
no  business  with  the  sentry,  go  off,"  and  they  went 
away.  I  have  often  seen  boys  with  the  sentry,  and 
often  heard  words.  The  bells  were  then  ringing, 
and  the  people  began  to  collect,  as  they  do  at  the  cry 
of  fire,  and  I  thought  it  was  fire.  I  had  a  mind  to 
get  my  staff  and  go  out,  but  I  had  a  reluctance,  be- 
cause I  had  been  warned  not  to  go  out  that  night ; 
but  while  the  people  were  collecting,  I  came  to  the 
door,  and  saw  them  gathering  thick  from  all  quarters, 
forty,  fifty,  or  sixty.  When  the  party  came  down,  I 
thought  it  was  no  more  than  I  had  seen  every  day ; 
I  thought  they  had  come  to  relieve  the  sentry ;  they 
seemed  to  be  in  a  posture  of  defence,  and  came 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  325 

through  the  people.  I  saw  no  opposition.  When 
they  came  up,  they  passed  out  6f  the  moonlight  into 
the  dark,  so  that  I  could  not  see  them,  but  I  wonder- 
ed to  find  them  tarry  so  long.  I  heard  a  gun  go  off, 
and  thought  it  was  an  accident,  but  in  a  little  time 
another  gun  went  off,  and  a  third  and  a  fourth,  pretty 
quick,  and  then  the  fifth.  There  seemed  to  be  a 
small  stop  in  their  firing ;  I  then  had  no  concern,  but 
before  the  smoke  was  well  away,  I  saw  the  people 
dead  on  the  ground.  I  saw  no  opposition  when  they 
were  drawn  up,  the  people  were  not  near  them ; 
what  opposition  might  be  at  the  lane  I  could  not  per- 
ceive, because  the  box  covered  that  from  my  view. 
Nathaniel  Fosdick  —  a  hatter.  On  the  evening  of 
the  fifth  of  March,  at  the  cry  of  fire,  I  came  out  of  my 
house,  and  saw  the  people  running  down  town.  I 
followed  them  ;  when  I  got  by  the  town  house,  I  saw 
some  going  down  King  street ;  I  went  down  also  to 
the  guard  house  ;  I  saw  a  number  of  the  soldiers  run- 
ning ;  I  asked  where  the  fire  was ;  nobody  answered 
me.  I  went  down  to  the  middle  of  King  street,  and 
while  I  stood  there,  was  pushed  from  behind  with  a 
bayonet.  I  turned  round  and  saw  a  party  of  soldiers 
coming  down.  I  asked  one  the  reason  of  his  pushing 
at  me  ;  he  damned  my  blood,  and  bade  me  stand  out 
of  their  way.  I  said  I  would  not,  I  was  doing  harm 
to  no  man,  and  would  not  stand  aside  for  any  one ; 
they  passed  me  some  on  one  side,  some  on  the  other. 
They  came  to  the  sentry  box,  faced  round,  and 
formed  a  circle.  I  spoke  to  some  of  the  inhabitants 
to  speak  to  Preston,  to  know  what  the  matter  was ; 
somebody  spoke  to  him,  but  what  was  said,  I  do  not 
28 


326  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

know.  I  saw  Preston  fall  back  betwixt  the  fourth 
and  fifth  man  ;  the  word  was  given  to  fire  and  im- 
mediately the  right  hand  man  fired ;  after  that  I 
pushed  in  towards  them,  and  they  ran  a  bayonet  at 
me  and  wounded  me  in  the  arm.  I  was  pushed 
twice  in  the  arm  by  two  different  bayonets.  I 
knocked  off  one  of  them  with  my  stick ;  with  the 
other  I  was  wounded  in  my  breast. 

"  Were  any  blows  given  before  the  guns  were 
fired  ? " 

"  No,  not  where  I  stood,  and  I  saw  two  thirds  of 
the  soldiers." 

"  Did  you  see  any  insults  offered  the  soldiers  ? " 

"  No,  none  at  all." 

After  the  evidence  for  the  crown  was  closed,  Sam- 
uel Q,uincy,1  of  counsel  for  the  crown,  addressed  the 
court  and  jury  at  length  upon  the  facts  as  proved, 
which  he  recapitulated  with  great  particularity,  and 
laid  down  the  law  which  he  considered  to  be  appli- 
cable to  the  case.  The  defence  was  then  opened  as 
follows,  by 

JOSIAH    QJJINCY,    JR. 

May  it  please  your  Honors,  and  you,  Gentlemen  of  the  Jury, 

The  prisoners  at  the  bar  stand  indicted  for  the 
murder  of  five  of  his  majesty's  liege  subjects,  as  set 

1  He  was  an  elder  brother  of  Josiah  Quincy,  jr.,  and  an  intimate 
friend  of  John  Adams.  He  was  the  last  solicitor  general  of  the 
province,  before  the  revolution.  He  became  a  royalist,  through 
jealousy,  it  is  said,  of  his  younger  brother,  who  rose  to  higher 
distinction  than  himself.  He  left  the  country  at  the  revolution 
and  went  to  Antigua,  where  he  was  appointed  king's  attorney,  and 
held  the  office  till  his  death  in  1789. 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  327 

forth  in  the  several  indictments,  which  have  been 
read  to  you.  The  persons  slain,  those  indictments 
set  forth,  as  "  being  in  the  peace  of  God,  and  our 
lord  the  king,"  at  the  time  of  the  mortal  wounds 
given. 

To  these  indictments,  the  prisoners  have  severally 
pleaded  not  guilty,  and  for  their  trial  have  put 
themselves  on  God  and  their  country,  which  country 
you  are :  and  by  their  pleas,  thus  severally  pleaded, 
they  are  to  stand,  or  fall,  according  to  the  evidence 
which  shall  respectively  apply  to  them. 

By  their  plea  of  not  guilty,  they  throw  the  burden 
of  proof,  as  to  the  fact  of  killing,  upon  the  crown  ; 
but,  upon  that  being  proved,  the  matter  they  allege 
to  justify,  excuse,  or  extenuate,  must  be  adduced  by 
them,  and  supported  by  legal  evidence.  The  truth 
of  the  facts  they  may  thus  allege,  it  is  your  sole  and 
undoubted  province  to  determine ;  but  upon  the  sup- 
position that  those  facts  shall  appear  to  your  satisfac- 
tion, in  the  manner  we  allege,  the  grand  question 
then  to  be  determined  will  be,  whether  such  matters, 
so  proved,  do,  in  law,  extenuate,  excuse,  or  justify. 
The  decision  of  this  question  belongs  to  another  de- 
partment, namely,  the  court.  This  is  law,  so  well 
known,  and  acknowledged,  that  I  shall  not  now  de- 
tain you  by  a  recital  of  authorities,  but  only  refer  you 
to  Foster's  Crown  Law,  where  this  point  is  treated 
with  precision,  and  fixed  beyond  controversy.  It 
may  not  be  amiss,  however,  to  assure  you,  that  as 
certain  as  the  cognizance  of  facts  is  within  your  juris- 
diction, so  certain  does  the  law,  resulting  from  these 
facts,  in  cases  of  the  present  kind,  seem  to  reside 


328  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

solely  in  the  court :  unless  cases,  where  juries,  under 
direction  of  the  court,  give  general  verdicts,  may  be 
denominated  exceptions. 

In  the  case  now  before  us,  it  will  not  be  contested, 
that  five  persons  were  unfortunately  killed,  at  the 
time  the  indictments  charge ;  and  this  case  will 
naturally  enough  divide  itself  into  three  main  divi- 
sions of  inquiry. 

First.     Whether  any  homicide  was  committed  ? 

Secondly.     By  whom  was  it  committed  ? 

Thirdly.  Is  there  any  thing  appearing  in  evi- 
dence, which  will  justify,  excuse,  or  extenuate  such 
homicide,  by  reducing  it  to  that  species  of  offence 
called  manslaughter  ? 

Before  we  enter  upon  these  inquiries,  permit  me, 
gentlemen,  to  remind  you  of  the  importance  of  this 
trial,  as  it  relates  to  the  prisoners.  It  is  for  their 
lives !  If  we  consider  the  number  of  persons,  now 
on  trial,  joined  with  many  other  circumstances  which 
might  be  mentioned,  it  is  by  far  the  most  important, 
this  country  ever  saw.  Remember  the  ties  you  are 
under  to  the  prisoners,  and  even  to  yourselves.  The 
eyes  of  all  are  upon  you.  Patience  in  hearing  this 
cause  is  an  essential  requisite,  candor  and  caution 
are  no  less  essential.  It  is  tedious  and  painful  to 
attend  a  trial  of  such  length  ;  but  remember  the  time 
which  has  been  taken  up  by  the  crown  in  the  open- 
ing. By  every  bond  of  humanity  and  justice,  we 
claim  an  equal  indulgence ;  nay,  it  is  of  high  im- 
portance to  your  country,  that  nothing  should  appear 
on  this  trial  to  impeach  our  justice,  or  stain  our 
humanity. 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  329 

And  here  let  me  remind  you  of  a  notion,  which 
has  certainly  been  too  prevalent,  and  guard  you 
against  its  baneful  influence.  An  opinion  has  been 
entertained  by  many  among  us,  that  the  life  of  a  sol- 
dier was  of  very  little  value  ;  of  much  less  value  than 
others  of  the  community.  The  law,  gentlemen, 
knows  no  such  distinction ;  the  life  of  a  soldier  is 
viewed,  by  the  equal  eye  of  the  law,  as  estimable 
as  the  life  of  any  other  citizen. 

I  cannot  in  any  other  way  account  for  what  I 
mention,  than  by  supposing  that  the  indigence  and 
poverty  of  a  soldier,  the  toils  of  his  life,  the  severity 
of  discipline  to  which  he  is  exposed,  the  precarious 
tenure  by  which  he  is  generally  thought  to  hold  his 
life,  in  the  summary  decisions  of  a  court-martial,  have 
conspired  to  propagate  a  sentiment  of  this  kind  ;  but 
a  little  attention  to  the  human  heart  will  dissipate 
such  a  notion. 

The  soldier  takes  his  choice,  like  all  others,  of  his 
course  of  life :  he  has  an  equal  right,  with  you,  or 
me,  so  to  do.  It  is  best  we  should  not  all  think 
alike.  Habit  makes  all  things  agreeable ;  what  at 
first  was  irksome,  soon  becomes  pleasing.  But  does 
experience  teach,  that  misery  begets  in  general  a 
hatred  of  life  !  By  no  means :  we  all  reluct  at 
death  ;  we  long  for  one  short  space  more  ;  we  grasp 
with  anxious  solicitude  even  after  a  wretched  exist- 
ence. God  and  nature  have  implanted  this  love  of 
life.  Expel,  therefore,  from  your  breasts  an  opinion 
so  unwarrantable  by  any  law,  human  or  divine ;  let 
not  any  thing  so  injurious  to  the  prisoners,  who  value 
life  as  much  as  you,  let  not  any  thing  so  repugnant 


330  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

to  all  justice,  have  influence  in  this  trial.  The  repu- 
tation of  the  country  depends  much  on  your  conduct, 
gentlemen ;  and,  may  I  not  add,  justice  calls  aloud 
for  candor  in  hearing,  and  impartiality  in  deciding, 
this  cause,  which  has,  perhaps,  too  much  engrossed 
our  affections  ;  and,  I  speak  for  one,  too  much  ex- 
cited our  passions. 

The  law,  by  which  the  prisoners  are  to  be  tried,  is 
a  law  of  mercy,  a  law  applying  to  us  all,  a  law, 
Blackstone  will  tell  us,  "  founded  in  principles  that 
are  permanent,  uniform,  and  universal,  always  con- 
formable to  the  feelings  of  humanity,  and  the  indeli- 
ble rights  of  mankind."  How  ought  we  all,  who  are 
to  bear  a  part  in  this  day,  to  aim  at  a  strict  adher- 
ence to  the  principles  of  this  law  ;  how  ought  we  all 
to  aim  at  utterly  eradicating  every  undue  bias  of 
the  judgment ;  a  bias  subversive  of  all  justice  and 
humanity  ! 

Another  opinion,  equally  foreign  to  truth  and  law, 
has  been  adopted  by  many.  It  has  been  thought, 
that  no  possible  case  could  happen,  in  which  a  sol- 
dier could  fire,  without  the  aid  of  a  civil  magistrate. 
This  is  a  great  mistake,  —  a  very  unhappy  mistake 
indeed  !  one,  I  am  afraid,  that  had  its  influence  on 
the  fatal  night,  which  we  all  lament.  The  law,  as 
to  the  present  point,  puts  the  citizen  and  soldier  un- 
der equal  restraint.  What  will  justify  and  mitigate 
the  action  of  the  one,  will  do  the  same  to  the  other. 
Let  us  bear  this  invariably  in  mind,  in  examining  the 
evidence.  But  before  we  proceed  to  this  examina- 
tion, let  us  take  a  transient  view  of  some  occur- 
rences, preceding,  and  subsequent  to,  the  melancholy 
fifth  of  March. 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  331 

About  some  five  or  six  years  ago,  it  is  well  known, 
certain  measures  were  adopted  by  the  British  parlia- 
ment, which  gave  a  general  alarm  to  this  continent. 
Measures  were  alternately  taken  in  Great  Britain, 
that  awakened  jealousy,  resentment,  fortitude,  and 
vigilance.  Affairs  continued  long  fluctuating.  A 
sentiment  universally  prevailed,  that  our  dearest 
rights  were  invaded.  It  is  not  our  business  here  to 
inquire  touching  these  delicate  points.  These  are 
concernments,  which,  however  interesting  or  impor- 
tant in  themselves,  we  must  keep  far  away  from  us, 
when  in  a  court  of  law.  It  poisons  justice,  when 
politics  tincture  its  current. 

I  need  not  inform  you,  how  the  tide  rose,  as  we 
were  advancing  towards  the  present  times.  The 
general  attention  became  more  and  more  roused,  — 
people  became  more  and  more  alike  in  opinion  and 
practice.  A  vast  majority  thought  all  that  was  dear 
was  at  stake,  —  sentiments  of  liberty,  —  property,  — 
ignominious  bondage,  —  all  conspire  to  increase  the 
ferment.  At  this  period  the  troops  land.  Let  us 
here  pause,  and  view  the  citizen,  and  the  soldier. 

The  causes  of  grievance  being  thus  spread  far  and 
wide,  the  inhabitants  viewed  the  soldiery  as  called  in, 
foreign  from  their  prime  institution,  to  force  obe- 
dience to  acts,  which  were,  in  general,  deemed  sub- 
versive of  natural  as  well  as  constitutional  freedom. 
With  regard  to  the  universal  prevalence  of  ideas  of 
this  kind,  it  does  not  fall  within  our  present  plan,  to 
give  you  direct,  positive  evidence.  It  would  be  too 
foreign  to  the  present  issue,  though  pertinent  enough, 
when  considered  as  a  clue  to  springs  and  motives  of 


332  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

action,  and  as  an  additional  aid  to  form  a  just  judg- 
ment in  our  present  inquiry.  You,  gentlemen,  who 
come  from  the  body  of  the  country,  are  presumed  to 
know  these  facts,  if  they  are  true  ;  nay,  their  noto- 
riety must  be  such,  provided  I  am  not  mistaken  in 
my  conjecture,  that  the  justness  of  my  observation 
on  this  matter  must  be  certainly  confirmed  by  your 
own  experience.  I  presume  not  in  this,  or  any  other 
matter  of  fact,  to  prescribe  to  you ;  if  these  senti- 
ments are  wrong,  they  have  no  influence  ;  if  right, 
they  ought  certainly  to  have  their  due  weight. 

I  say,  gentlemen,  and  appeal  to  you  for  the  truth 
of  what  I  say,  that  many  on  this  continent  viewed 
their  chains  as  already  forged ;  they  saw  fetters  as 
prepared ;  they  beheld  the  soldiers  as  fastening,  and 
riveting  for  ages,  the  shackles  of  their  bondage. 
With  the  justness  of  these  apprehensions,  you  and  I 
have  nothing  to  do  in  this  place.  Disquisitions  of 
this  sort  are  for  the  senate,  and  the  chamber  of  coun- 
cil, they  are  for  statesmen  and  politicians,  who  take 
a  latitude  in  thoughts  and  action ;  but  we,  gentle- 
men, are  confined  in  our  excursions,  by  the  rigid 
rules  of  law.  Upon  the  real,  actual  existence  of 
these  apprehensions,  in  the  community,  we  may 
judge  ;  they  are  facts  falling  properly  within  our  cog- 
nizance, and  hitherto  may  we  go,  but  no  farther.  It 
is  my  duty,  and  I  ought  to  impress  it  on  your  minds ; 
and,  you,  gentlemen,  ought  to  retain  the  impression. 
You  are  to  determine  on  the  facts  coming  to  your 
knowledge;  you  are  to  think,  judge,  and  act,  as 
jurymen,  and  not  as  statesmen. 

Matters  being  thus  circumstanced,  what  might  be 


THE    BOSTON   MASSACRE.  333 

expected  ?  No  room  was  left  for  cordiality  and 
friendship.  Discontent  was  seated  on  almost  every 
brow.  Instead  of  that  hospitality,  which  the  soldier 
thought  himself  entitled  to,  scorn,  contempt,  and 
silent  murmurs  were  his  reception.  Almost  every 
countenance  lowered  with  a  discontented  gloom,  and 
scarce  an  eye  but  flashed  indignant  fire.  Turn  and 
contemplate  the  camp.  Do  we  find  a  more  favora- 
ble appearance  ?  The  soldier  had  his  feelings,  his 
sentiments,  and  his  characteristic  passions  also.  The 
constitution  of  our  government  has  provided  a  stimu- 
lus for  his  affections :  the  pride  of  conscious  virtue, 
the  sense  of  valor,  the  point  of  honor.  The  law  had 
taught  him  to  think  favorably  of  himself;  had  taught 
him  to  consider  himself  as  peculiarly  appointed  for 
the  safeguard  and  defence  of  his  country.  He  had 
heard,  that  he  put  not  off  the  citizen,  when  he  en- 
tered the  camp  ;  but  because  he  was  a  citizen,  and 
wished  to  continue  so,  he  made  himself,  for  awhile,  a 
soldier.  How  stinging  was  it  to  be  stigmatized  as 
the  instrument  of  tyranny  and  oppression !  How 
exasperating  to  be  viewed  as  aiding  to  inthrall  his 
country  !  He  felt  his  heart  glow  with  an  ardor, 
which  he  tQok  for  a  love  of  liberty  and  his  country, 
and  had  formed  to  himself  no  design  fatal  to  its 
privileges.  He  recollected,  no  doubt,  that  he  had 
heretofore  exposed  himself  for  its  service.  He  had 
bared  his  bosom  in  defence  of  his  native  soil,  and 
still  felt  the  smart  of  wounds,  received  in  conflict  for 
his  king  and  country.  Could  that  spirit,  which  had 
braved  the  shafts  of  foreign  battle,  brook  the  keener 
wounds  of  civil  contest  ?  The  arrows  which  now 


334  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

pierced  him,  pierced  as  deep  and  rankled  more  than 
those  of  former  times. 

Is  it  rational  to  imagine  much  harmony  could  long 
subsist  ?  We  must  take  human  nature  as  we  find  it, 
and  not  vainly  imagine,  that  all  things  are  to  become 
new,  at  such  a  crisis.  There  are  an  order  of  men  in 
every  commonwealth,  who  never  reason,  but  always 
act  from  feeling.  That  their  rights  and  liberties 
were  filched  away  one  after  another,  they  had  often 
been  told.  They  had  been  taught  by  those  whom 
they  believed,  that  the  axe  was  now  laid  to  the  root  of 
the  tree,  and  one  more  stroke  would  complete  its  fall. 
It  was  in  vain  to  expect  to  silence  or  subdue  these 
emotions  by  reasons,  soothings,  or  dangers.  A  belief, 
that  nothing  could  be  worse  than  the  calamities 
which  seemed  inevitable,  had  extended  itself  on  all 
sides,  and  arguments  drawn  from  such  sources  had 
little  influence.  Each  day  gave  rise  to  new  occur- 
rences, which  increased  animosities.  Heartburnings, 
heats,  and  bickerings  became  more  and  more  exten- 
sive. Reciprocal  insults  soured  the  temper,  mutual 
injuries  embittered  the  passions.  Can  we  wonder, 
that  when  every  thing  tended  to  some  important  ac- 
tion, the  period  so  soon  arrived  ?  Will  not  our  won- 
der be  increased  to  find  the  crisis  no  sooner  taking 
place,  when  so  many  circumstances  united  to  hasten 
its  approach  ?  To  use  an  allusion  somewhat  homely, 
may  we  not  wonder  that  the  acid  and  the  alkali  did 
not  sooner  ferment  ? 

A  thought  here  imperceptibly  forces  itself  on  our 
minds,  and  we  are  led  to  be  astonished,  that  persons  so 
discordant  in  opinion,  and  so  opposite  in  views,  attach- 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  335 

ments,  and  connexions,  should  be  stationed  together. 
But,  here,  gentlemen,  we  must  stop.  If  we  pursue 
this  inquiry,  at  this  time,  and  in  this  place,  we  shall 
be  in  danger  of  doing  great  injustice.  We  shall  get 
beyond  our  limits.  The  right  of  quartering  troops  in 
this  province  must  be  discussed  at  a  different  tribu- 
nal. The  constitutional  legality,  the  propriety,  the 
expediency  of  their  appointment,  are  questions  of 
state,  not  to  be  determined,  or  even  agitated  by  us, 
in  this  court.  It  is  enough  for  us,  if  the  law  takes 
notice  of  them  when  thus  stationed,  if  it  warrants 
their  continuance,  if  it  protects  them  in  their  quar- 
ters. They  were  sent  here  by  that  authority,  which 
our  laws  know ;  they  were  quartered  here,  as  I 
take  it,  agreeably  to  an  act  of  the  British  parlia- 
ment ;  they  were  ordered  here  by  your  sovereign  and 
mine. 

Let  me  here  take  a  method  very  common  with 
another  order  of  men.  Let  me  remind  you  of  what 
is  not  your  duty. 

Gentlemen,  great  pains  have  been  taken  by  differ- 
ent men,  with  different  views,  to  involve  the  charac- 
ter, the  conduct,  and  reputation  of  the  town  of  Bos- 
ton, in  the  present  issue.  Boston  and  its  inhabitants 
have  no  more  to  do  with  this  cause,  than  you,  or  any 
other  members  of  the  community.  You  are,  there- 
fore, by  no  means  to  blend  together  two  things,  so 
essentially  different,  as  the  guilt,  or  innocence,  of  this 
town  and  the  prisoners.  The  inhabitants  of  Boston, 
by  no  rules  of  law,  justice,  or  common  sense,  can  be 
supposed  answerable,  for  the  unjustifiable  conduct  of 
a  few  individuals,  hastily  assembled  in  the  streets. 


336  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

Every  populous  city,  in  like  circumstances,  would  be 
liable  to  similar  commotions,  if  not  worse.  No  ra- 
tional or  honest  man  will  form  any  worse  opinion  of 
this  metropolis,  for  the  transactions  of  that  melancholy 
night.  Who  can,  who  will,  unnecessarily  interest 
themselves  to  justify  the  rude  behavior  of  a  mixt  and 
ungovernable  multitude  ?  May  I  not  appeal  to  you, 
and  all  who  have  heard  this  trial  thus  far,  that  things 
already  wear  a  different  aspect  from  what  we  have 
been  heretofore  taught  to  expect  ?  Had  any  one  told 
you,  some  weeks  ago,  that  the  evidence  on  the  crown- 
side  would  have  appeared  in  the  present  light,  would 
you  have  believed  it  ?  Can  any  one  think  it  his  duty, 
to  espouse  the  cause  of  those  assembled  in  King 
street  ?  I  think  not ;  but  lest  my  opinion  should  not 
have  any  weight,  let  me  remind  you  of  an  author, 
who,  I  could  wish,  were  in  the  hands  of  all  of  you ; 
one  whom  I  trust  you  will  credit.  I  am  sure  you 
ought  to  love  and  revere  him.  I  wish  his  sentiments 
were  engraven  in  indelible  characters  on  your  hearts. 
You  will  not  suspect  him  of  being  unfriendly  to  lib- 
erty ;  if  this  cause  and  its  events  must  be  interwoven 
with  a  matter  so  foreign  to  it.  I  allude  to  the  third 
letter  of  the  "  Farmer  of  Pennsylvania,"  to  his  coun- 
trymen.1 

1  The  celebrated  "  Farmer's  Letters  "  were  written  against  the 
revenue  acts  of  Great  Britain,  by  John  Dickinson,  of  Pennsylvania. 
The  depth  of  research,  force  of  argument,  and  perspicuity  of  style, 
which  appeared  in  these  letters,  made  them  popular  with  all  classes 
of  readers  in  America.  Dr.  Franklin  caused  them  to  be  reprinted 
in  England,  with  a  commendatory  preface  from  his  own  pen. 
Sparks's  Life  of  Franklin,  p.  456. 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  337 

"  The  cause  of  liberty,"  says  that  great  and  good 
writer,  "  is  a  cause  of  too  much  dignity  to  be  sullied 
by  turbulence  and  tumult ;  it  ought  to  be  maintained 
in  a  manner  suitable  to  her  nature.  Those  who  en- 
gage in  it  should  breathe  a  sedate  yet  fervent  spirit, 
animating  them  to  actions  of  prudence,  justice,  mod- 
esty, bravery,  humanity,  and  magnanimity."  What 
has  there  transpired  on  this  trial,  savoring  of  any  of 
these  virtues  ?  Was  it  justice,  or  humanity,  to  attack, 
insult,  ridicule,  and  abuse  a  single  sentinel  on  his 
post?  Was  it  either  modest,  brave,  or  magnani- 
mous, to  rush  upon  the  points  of  fixed  bayonets,  and 
trifle,  vapor,  and  provoke,  at  the  very  mouths  of 
loaded  muskets  ?  It  may  be  brutal  rage,  or  wanton 
rashness,  but  not,  surely,  any  true  magnanimity. 

" I  hope,"  says  the  same  eminent  writer,  "my  dear 
countrymen,  that  you  will  in  every  colony  be  upon 
your  guard  against  those,  who  at  any  time  endeavor 
to  stir  you  up,  under  pretence  of  patriotism,  to  any 
measures  disrespectful  to  your  sovereign,  and  our 
mother  country."  By  this  it  should  seem,  as  though 
the  "  Farmer  "  never  expected  any  period  would  ar- 
rive, when  such  measures  would  be  warrantable. 
Now  what  more  disrespectful  to  our  parent  country, 
than  to  treat  with  contempt  a  body  of  men,  stationed, 
most  certainly,  by  the  consent  of  her  supreme  legis- 
lature, the  parliament  of  Britain  ?  What  more  dis- 
respectful to  our  common  sovereign,  than  to  assume 
the  sword  of  justice,  and  become  the  avengers  of 
either  public  or  private  wrongs  ?  Though  the  sol- 
diers, who  appeared  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  even- 
ing in  Corn  hill,  acted  like  barbarians  and  savages, 
29 


338  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

they  had  now  retired,  and  were  confined  in  their 
barracks ;  what  though  an  impertinent  boy  had  re- 
ceived unjustifiable  correction  from  the  sentinel ;  the 
boy,  and  the  persons  in  Cornhill,  must  have  recourse 
only  to  the  law  for  their  redress.  Courts  of  law  are 
styled  "  vindices  injuriarum"  the  avengers  of  injuries, 
and  none  others  are  to  assume  this  prerogative.  The 
law  erects  itself  as  the  supreme,  dernier  resort,  in  all 
complaints  of  wrong;  and  nothing  could  more  essen- 
tially sap  our  most  important  interests,  than  any 
countenance  to  such  dangerous  encroachments  on 
the  domains  of  municipal  justice. 

But,  finally,  to  finish  with  the  justly  celebrated 
"  Farmer."  —  "  Hot,  rash,  disorderly  proceedings  in- 
jure the  reputation  of  a  people,  as  to  wisdom,  valor, 
and  virtue,  without  procuring  the  least  benefit." 
Thus  have  you  the  sense  of  this,  with  us,  great  au- 
thority. And  let  me  ask  all  those,  who  have  thought 
the  cause  of  this  country  connected  with  the  agents  of 
the  assembly  in  King  street,  whether  the  proceedings 
of  that  unhappy  night  were  hot,  rash,  or  disorderly  ? 
If  they  were,  have  they  not,  in  the  opinion  of  this 
great  friend  of  liberty,  injured  our  reputation,  as  to 
wisdom,  valor,  and  virtue  ;  and  that  too,  without  pro- 
curing the  least  benefit  ?  Who  then  would  sacrifice 
his  judgment,  and  his  integrity,  to  vindicate  such 
proceedings  ? 

To  what  purposes  the  soldiers  were  sent ;  whether  it 
was  a  step  warranted  by  sound  policy,  or  not,  we  shall 
not  inquire  ;  we  are  to  consider  the  troops,  not  as  the 
instruments  for  wresting  our  rights,  but  as  fellow  citi- 
zens, who,  being  to  be  tried  by  a  law  extending  to 


THE    BOSTON.  MASSACRE.  339 

every  individual,  claim  a  part  in  its  benefits,  —  its  privi- 
leges,—  its  mercy.  We  must  steel  ourselves  against 
passions  which  contaminate  the  fountain  of  justice. 
We  ought  to  recollect,  that  our  present  decisions  will 
be  scanned,  perhaps  through  all  Europe.  We  must 
not  forget,  that  we  ourselves  will  have  a  reflective  hour, 
—  an  hour,  in  which  we  shall  view  things  through  a 
different  medium, — when  the  pulse  will  no  longer 
beat  with  the  tumults  of  the  day,  —  when  the  con- 
scious pang  of  having  betrayed  truth,  justice,  and 
integrity,  shall  bite  like  a  serpent,  and  sting  like  an 
adder. 

Consider,  gentlemen,  the  danger  which  you,  and 
all  of  us  are  in,  of  being  led  away  by  our  affections 
and  attachments.  We  have  seen  the  blood  of  our 
fellow  men  flowing  in  the  streets.  We  have  been 
told  that  this  blood  was  wrongfully  shed.  That  is 
now  the  point  in  issue.  But  let  it  be  borne  deep 
upon  our  minds,  that  the  prisoners  are  to  be  con- 
demned by  the  evidence  here  in  court  produced 
against  them,  and  by  nothing  else.  Matters  heard 
or  seen  abroad,  are  to  have  no  weight ;  in  general, 
they  undermine  the  pillars  of  justice  and  truth.  It 
has  been  our  misfortune,  that  a  system  of  evidence 
has  appeared  in  the  world  against  us.1  It  is  not  our 

1  After  the  occurrence  on  the  fifth  of  March,  a  committee,  ap- 
pointed by  the  inhabitants  of  Boston,  took  the  depositions  of  a 
large  number  of  witnesses,  and  drew  up  a  statement  of  the  occur- 
rence. This  narrative  of  the  Boston  committee  was  entirely  er- 
roneous in  many  respects,  and  the  depositions  were  very  different 
from  the  testimony  of  the  same  witnesses  at  the  trial,  when  the 
excitement  had  somewhat  subsided,  and  they  were  subjected  to  a 
cross-examination. 


340  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

business  to  blame  any  one  for  this.  It  is  our  misfor- 
tune, I  say.  It  should  be  remembered,  that  we  were 
not  present  to  cross-examine  ;  and  the  danger,  which 
results  from  this  publication  being  in  the  hands  of 
those  who  are  to  pass  upon  our  lives,  ought  to  be 
guarded  against.  We  say  we  are  innocent,  by  our 
plea ;  and  we  are  not  to  be  denounced  guilty  by  a 
new  species  of  evidence,  —  unknown  in  the  English 
system  of  criminal  law. 

But,  as  though  a  series  of  ex  parte  evidence  was 
not  enough,  all  the  colors  of  the  canvass  have  been 
touched,  in  order  to  freshen  the  wounds,  and  by  a 
transport  of  imagination,  we  are  made  present  at  the 
scene  of  action.  The  prints  exhibited  in  our  houses 
have  added  wings  to  fancy,  and,  in  the  fervor  of  our 
zeal,  reason  is  in  hazard  of  being  lost ; '  for,  as  was 
elegantly  expressed,  by  a  learned  gentleman  at  the 
late  trial,  "  the  passions  of  man,  nay,  his  very  imagi- 
nations, are  contagious."  The  pomp  of  funeral  and 
the  horrors  of  death  have  been  so  delineated,  as  to  give 
a  spring  to  our  ideas  and  inspire  a  glow  incompati- 
ble with  sound  deliberative  judgment.  In  this  situa- 
tion, every  passion  has  been  alternately  predominant. 

1  Immediately  after  the  occurrence,  a  print  was  published  by 
Paul  Revere,  which  was  circulated  through  the  country.  It  was 
very  famous  in  that  day,  and  there  were  few  houses  in  which  it 
was  not  an  ornament.  Copies  of  it  are  still  seen,  and  within  a 
few  years  a  new  (reduced)  engraving  of  this  print  was  made  in 
Boston.  It  gives  a  somewhat  false  idea  of  the  scene  it  purports  to 
represent.  The  soldiers  are  represented  as  drawn  up  in  a  line  be- 
fore the  custom  house  (on  which  is  a  large  sign  containing  the 
fancy  title  of  BUTCHERS'  HALL,)  and  at  the  bidding  of  their  com- 
mander, deliberately  firing  at  the  inhabitants,  several  of  whom 
fall  dead  in  the  street. 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  341 

They  have  each  in  its  turn  subsided  in  degree,  and 
then  have  sometimes  given  place  to  despondence, 
grief,  and  sorrow.  How  careful  should  we  be,  that 
we  do  not  mistake  the  impressions  of  gloom  and  mel- 
ancholy for  the  dictates  of  reason  and  truth.  How 
careful,  lest,  borne  away  by  a  torrent  of  passion,  we 
make  shipwreck  of  conscience. 

Perhaps  you  may  be  told,  gentlemen,  as  I  remem- 
ber it  was  said,  at  the  late  trial,  that  passions  were 
like  the  flux  and  reflux  of  the  sea,  the  highest  tides 
always  producing  the  lowest  ebbs.  But  let  it  be 
noticed,  that  the  tide,  in  our  political  ocean,  has  yet 
never  turned;  certainly  the  current  has  never  set 
towards  the  opposite  quarter.  However  similes  may 
illustrate,  they  never  go  for  proof;  though,  I  be- 
lieve it  will  be  found,  that  if  the  tide  of  resentment  has 
not  risen  of  late,  it  has  been  because  it  had  already 
reached  the  summit.  In  the  same  mode  of  phrase- 
ology, if  so  homely  an  expression  may  be  used,  per- 
haps, as  the  seamen  say,  it  has  been  high-water 
slack  ;  but  I  am  satisfied  that  the  current  has  not  yet 
altered  its  course,  in  favor  of  the  prisoners  at  the 
bar. 

Many  things  yet  exist  sufficient  to  keep  alive  the 
glow  of  indignation.  I  have  aimed  at  securing  you 
against  the  catching  flame.  I  have  endeavored  to 
discharge  my  duty  in  this  respect.  What  success 
will  follow  those  endeavors,  depends  on  you,  gentle- 
men. If  being  told  of  your  danger  will  not  produce 
caution,  nothing  will.  If  you  are  determined  in 
opinion,  it  is  vain  to  say  more ;  but  if  you  are  zealous 
inquirers  after  truth,  if  you  are  willing  to  hear  with 


342  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

impartiality,  to  examine  and  judge  for  yourselves,  — 
enough  has  been  said  to  apprize  you  of  those  ave- 
nues, at  which  the  enemies  of  truth  and  justice  are 
most  likely  to  enter,  and  most  easily  to  beset  you. 

Gentlemen  of  the  jury,  I  shall  now,  for  argument's 
sake  only,  take  it  for  granted,  that  the  fact  of  killing 
has  been  proved  upon  all  the  prisoners :  you  are 
sensible  that  this  is  not  really  true,  for  as  to  this  point, 
there  are  several  of  the  prisoners  upon  whom  the 
fact  is  not  fixed.  But  as  I  shall  hereafter  take  occa- 
sion to  consider  the  distinct  case  of  each  prisoner,  as 
he  is  affected  by  the  evidence,  I  at  present  choose  to 
avoid  confusion,  and  apply  myself  to  the  full  strength 
of  the  crown  ;  and,  upon  a  supposition,  that  all  the 
prisoners  are  answerable  for  the  act  of  any  one,  see 
how  the  prisoners  are  chargeable,  by  the  evidence 
already  offered,  with  the  crime  of  murder ;  —  or 
rather  endeavor  to  point  out  to  you  those  facts,  ap- 
pearing by  the  evidence  on  the  crown  side,  which 
will  amount,  in  law,  to  a  justification,  an  excuse,  or 
at  least,  an  extenuation  of  their  offence  ;  for,  we 
say,  that,  give  the  evidence  for  the  king  its  full  scope 
and  force,  and  our  offence  is  reduced,  at  least,  to 
manslaughter ;  in  which  case,  we  claim  the  privilege 
of  that  law,  by  the  sentence  of  which,  if  guilty,  we 
must  suffer  the  pains  of  death ;  a  privilege,  we  can 
never  again  claim,  a  privilege,  that  by  no  means  im- 
plies exemption  from  all  punishment ;  the  offender 
becomes  liable  to  imprisonment  for  a  year,  incurs  a 
forfeiture  of  all  goods  and  chattels,  and,  till  he  re- 
ceives the  judgment  of  law,  is  to  all  intents  a  felon, 
subject  to  all  the  disabilities  and  other  incidents  of  a 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  343 

felon.  Without  taking  up  time,  in  attending  and 
discussing  points,  no  way  pertinent  to  the  present 
issue ;  without  a  tedious  recapitulation  of  circum- 
stances with  which,  I  take  it,  we  have  no  more  con- 
cern than  either  of  you,  gentlemen :  I  say,  passing 
over  all  these  matters  as  foreign  to  this  trial,  let  us 
state  the  evidence  appearing  even  from  the  crown 
witnesses. 

Mr.  Quincy  then  proceeded  to  a  minute  detail 
of  the  evidence  against  the  prisoners,  pointing  out 
the  circumstances  which  favored  them,  and  com- 
menting chiefly  on  the  facts  which  served  to  refute 
or  invalidate  the  positions  of  the  counsel  for  the 
crown,  by  showing  an  assault  and  attack  upon  the 
sentry.  He  admitted,  that  there  was  great  excite- 
ment amongst  the  soldiers  on  that  evening.  Bands 
of  them  were  driving  through  the  streets,  using  in- 
sulting language,  and  maltreating  those  citizens  whom 
they  met.  He  was  ready  to  admit,  that  their  con- 
duct was  entirely  unjustifiable  ;  but  the  prisoners 
were  not  of  the  number  who  thus  acted  like  ruffians. 
Nor  did  it  appear,  that  the  soldiers  who  were  guilty 
of  this  reprehensible  conduct  belonged  to  the  twen- 
ty-ninth regiment.  These  acts  could  in  no  way  pre- 
judice the  prisoners.  They  were  foreign  to  the  issue, 
and,  he  humbly  conceived,  ought  not  to  have  been 
mentioned  on  the  present  occasion  at  all.  He  then 
stated  the  proofs  he  expected  to  exhibit  on  the  part 
of  the  prisoners,  to  show  that  all  which  they  did  was 
necessary  and  proper  in  self-defence. 

More  than  fifty  witnesses  were  then  examined  to 


344  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

prove  the  facts  alleged  in  the  defence.  From  their 
testimony,  it  was  abundantly  evident,  that  there  was 
unusual  excitement  amongst  all  classes  of  the  citi- 
zens in  the  beginning  of  the  evening,  and  there  was 
a  general  expectation  of  a  serious  affray  between  the 
soldiers  and  the  town's  people.  Crowds  of  people 
were  collected  in  various  parts  of  the  town,  armed 
with  clubs'  and  other  deadly  weapons.  Parties  of 
soldiers  were  also  driving  through  the  streets,  armed 
with  bayonets,  cutlasses,  and  clubs,  and  treating  all 
whom  they  met  in  the  most  insulting  manner.  In 
the  first  part  of  the  evening,  several  collisions  had 
taken  place  between  the  citizens  and  soldiers,  and 
one  near  Cornhill,  in  which  the  soldiers  of  the  four- 
teenth regiment  were  engaged,  had  become  quite 
serious  before  the  officers  were  enabled  to  confine 
the  soldiers  in  their  barracks  ;  a  citizen  having  re- 
ceived a  severe  wound  with  a  cutlass.  It  was  also 
proved,  that  the  sentry  at  the  custom  house  was 
placed  there  by  authority,  and  could  not  leave  his 
station ;  that  he  was  insulted,  pressed  upon,  and 
pelted  with  clubs,  snow  balls,  and  oyster  shells,  and 
that  he  frequently  threatened  the  aggressors  that  he 
would  fire,  before  he  called  for  the  assistance  of  the 
main  guard.  It  was  also  proved,  that  the  soldiers  of 
the  main  guard,  on  their  way  to  his  assistance,  re- 
ceived the  same  treatment,  but  there  was  no  direct 
evidence  that  they  were  ordered  to  fire  by  their  com- 

1  While  the  soldiers  were  stationed  in  Boston,  the  citizens  were 
constantly  liable  to  be  insulted,  and  it  seems  to  have  been  a  gen- 
eral custom  for  those  who  were  out  in  the  evening  to  carry  walk- 
ing sticks,  &c.,  for  self-defence. 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  345 

mander,  although  they  were  frequently  dared  to  do  it 
by  their  assailants.  They  were  accused  of  cow- 
ardice;  were  called  "dastards,"  "cowards,"  "lob- 
sters," in  reference  to  the  color  of  their  coats,  and 
"bloody  backs,"  in  reference  to  the  custom  of  flog- 
ging in  the  army ;  and  every  conceivable  term  of 
insult  was  thrown  at  them  by  the  excited  crowd  by 
which  they  were  surrounded. 

The  full  testimony  of  a  few  of  the  witnesses  gives 
a  sufficiently  correct  idea  of  the  facts  relied  on  in 
the  defence. 

Richard  Hirons  —  a  physician.  On  the  evening  of 
Marcli  fifth,  a  little  after  eight  o'clock,  hearing  a  noise 
and  disturbance  in  the  street,  I  went  out  to  know  what 
it  was,  and  was  told  there  was  a  difference  between 
the  town's  people  and  soldiers.  I  saw  several  soldiers 
pass  and  repass,  some  with  bayonets,  and  some  with 
clubs  ;  standing  at  my  door,  I  saw  a  number  of  peo- 
ple running  to  and  fro,  across  the  bottom  of  the 
street.  I  shut  my  door  and  went  in  about  eight  or 
ten  minutes.  I  then  heard  a  noise  like  a  single  per- 
son running  through  Boylston's  alley  with  great  vio- 
lence ;  he  ran,  as  I  took  it,  towards  the  barrack  gate, 
and  cried  out,  "  town-born,  turn  out ;  town-born, 
turn  out."  I  heard  this  repeated  twenty  or  thirty 
times ;  it  was  the  constant  cry.  I  remember,  after 
coming  out  the  second  time,  to  have  heard  the  voice 
of  a  person  whom  I  took  to  be  Ensign  Maul  say, 
"  who  is  this  fellow,  lay  hold  of  him."  I  did  not 
hear  a  word  pass  between  the  people  that  went  back- 
wards and  forwards,  and  the  sentinel  at  the  barrack 


346  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

gate,  nor  from  the  sentinel  to  them  :  this  cry  of 
"  town-born,  turn  out,"  was  repeated  for  seven  or 
eight  minutes,  when  I  heard  the  voices  of  a  great 
many  more.  The  collection  of  such  a  number,  with 
a  noise  of  the  clubs,  induced  me  to  lock  my  door, 
put  out  my  light  in  the  front  part  of  my  house,  and 
to  go  up  stairs  into  the  chamber  fronting  the  bar- 
racks ;  when  there,  I  observed  four  or  five  officers 
of  the  twenty-ninth  regiment  standing  on  their  own 
steps,  and  there  might  be  some  twenty  or  thirty  of 
the  town's  people  surrounding  the  steps.  About  that 
time,  there  came  a  little  man,  who  he  was  I  do  not 
know ;  he  said,  "  why  do  you  not  keep  your  soldiers 
in  their  barracks  ;"  they  said  they  had  done  every 
thing  they  possibly  could,  and  would  do  every  thing 
in  their  power  to  keep  them  in  their  barracks ;  on 
which  he  said,  "  are  the  inhabitants  to  be  knocked 
down  in  the  street,  are  they  to  be  murdered  in  this 
manner?"  The  officers  still  insisted  they  had  done 
their  utmost,  and  would  do  it,  to  keep  the  soldiers  in 
their  barracks  ;  the  same  person  then  said,  "  you 
know  the  country  has  been  used  ill,  you  know  the 
town  has  been  used  ill,  we  did  not  send  for  you,  we 
will  not  have  you  here,  we  will  get  rid  of  you,"  or, 
"  we  will  drive  you  away  ;"  which  of  the  last  ex- 
pressions I  cannot  say,  but  it  was  one  or  the  other. 
The  officers  still  insisted  they  had  done  their  utmost, 
and  would  do  it,  to  keep  the  soldiers  in  their  bar- 
racks, and  begged  the  person  to  use  his  interest  to 
disperse  the  people,  that  no  mischief  might  happen ; 
whether  he  did  address  the  people  or  not,  I  cannot 
say,  for  the  confusion  was  so  great  I  could  not  dis- 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  347 

tinguish.  Immediately  the  cry  of  "  home,"  "  home," 
was  mentioned  ;  I  do  not  recollect  seeing  any  person 
go  away  at  the  first  cry,  and  there  was  such  confu- 
sion I  could  not  tell  what  was  said,  but  in  five  minutes 
afterwards  the  cry  "  home,"  "  home,"  was  repeated, 
on  which  the  greatest  part  of  them,  possibly  two 
thirds,  went  up  Boylston's  alley  towards  the  town- 
house,  huzzaing  for  the  main  guard.  I  then  observed 
more  of  the  town's  people  coming  from  towards  the 
market ;  there  was  a  squabble  and  noise  between 
the  people  and  the  officers,  but  what  was  said  I 
could  not  hear.  The  next  thing  I  recollect  in  the 
affair  was,  a  little  boy  came  down  the  alley,  clapping 
his  hand  to  his  head,  and  crying  he  was  killed,  he  was 
killed ;  on  which  one  of  the  officers  took  hold  of 
him,  and  damned  him  for  a  little  rascal,  asking  him 
what  business  he  had  out  of  doors ;  the  boy  seemed 
to  be  about  seven  or  eight  years  old.  Some  little 
time  after  that,  I  saw  a  soldier  come  out  of  the  bar- 
rack gate  with  his  musket,  he  went  directly  facing 
the  alley,  in  the  middle  of  the  street,  and  kneeled 
down  on  one  knee,  and  said,  "  now,  damn  your 
bloods,  I  will  make  a  lane  through  you  all."  While 
he  was  presenting,  Mr.  Maul,  an  ensign,  with  either 
Mr.  Dixon,  or  Mr.  Minchin,  I  do  not  know  which, 
came  after  him,  immediately  laid  hold  of  him,  and 
took  the  musket  from  him,  shoved  him  towards  the 
barrack,  and  I  think  gave  him  the  musket  again, 
and  charged  him  at  his  peril  to  come  out  again. 
I  do  not  recollect  any  discourse  that  passed  between 
the  town's  people  and  officers,  there  was  still  such 
clamor  and  confusion,  that  I  could  not  hear  what 


348  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

passed ;  but  in  a  little  time  either  the  soldier  who 
came  out  before,  or  another,  came  out  again  ;  he  re- 
peated much  the  same  words  as  the  other,  and  had 
his  gun  in  his  hand,  he  did  not  offer  to  kneel  down, 
but  used  the  same  expressions.  He  was  presenting 
his  firelock,  when  Mr.  Maul  knocked  him  down,  took 
his  musket  from  him,  drove  him  into  the  barracks, 
and  I  think  the  barrack  gate  was  then  shut.  About 
this  time  I  recollect  hearing  Dr.  Cooper's  bell  ring,  and 
I  heard  some  officer  say,  "  go  and  stop  that  bell  from 
ringing ;  "  whether  any  body  went  or  not,  I  cannot 
say,  but  it  did  not  ring  a  great  while.  About  this  time 
I  saw  Captain  Goldfinch,  of  the  fourteenth,  on  the 
steps  with  the  officers  of  the  twenty-ninth  ;  there 
came  up  a  little  man,  who  he  was  I  do  not  know, 
but  in  a  much  different  manner  from  what  the  other 
did.  He  requested  the  soldiers  might  be  kept  in 
their  barracks,  and  that  the  officers  would  do  every 
thing  in  their  power  to  keep  them  there  ;  the  officers 
said  they  had,  and  would  do  so :  and,  as  the  soldiers 
were  in  their  barracks,  begged  the  people  might  go 
away ;  this  little  man  said  to  the  people,  gentlemen, 
you  hear  what  the  officers  say,  that  the  soldiers  are 
all  in  their  barracks,  and  you  had  better  go  home  ; 
on  which  the  cry  was  "  home,  home."  Then  a  great 
many  went  up  the  alley  again,  and  I  heard  the 
expression,  "  let  us  go  to  the  main  guard."  Cap- 
tain Goldfinch  was  still  on  the  steps  ;  I  heard  his 
voice  still  talking,  and  I  think  he  desired  every  per- 
son would  go  away.  While  he  was  talking,  I  heard 
the  report  of  a  musket.  In  a  few  seconds  I  heard 
the  report  of  a  second  gun ;  presently  after  that  a 


THE   BOSTON   MASSACRE.  349 

third  ;  upon  the  firing  of  the  first  gun,  I  heard  Cap- 
tain Goldfinch  say,  "  I  thought  it  would  come  to  this, 
it  is  time  for  me  to  go."  I  then  saw  a  soldier  come 
down  the  alley  from  Cornhill,  and  go  up  to  the 
steps  where  the  officers  stood.  He  said,  they  fired 
from  or  upon  the  main  guard.  I  then  heard  the 
drum  at  the  main  guard  beat  to  arms.  I  came  down 
stairs  and  did  not  go  out  till  I  was  sent  for  to  some 
of  the  wounded  people.  I  was  sent  for  to  Maverick. 
About  two  hours  before  his  death,  I  asked  him  con- 
cerning the  affair ;  he  said  he  went  up  the  lane,  and 
just  as  he  got  to  the  corner,  he  heard  a  gun ;  he  did 
not  retreat  back,  but  went  to  the  town  house ;  as  he 
was  going  along  he  was  shot.  It  seems  strange,  by 
the  direction  of  the  ball,  how  he  could  be  killed  by 
the  firing  at  the  custom-house  ;  it  wounded  a  part  of 
the  liver,  stomach,  and  intestines,  and  lodged  between 
the  lower  ribs,  where  I  cut  it  out ;  the  ball  must  have 
struck  some  wall  or  something  else,  before  it  struck 
him.  He  was  between  Royal  Exchange  lane  and  the 
town  house,  going  up  towards  the  town  house. 

Benjamin  Davis,  jun.  —  On  the  evening  of  the 
fifth  of  March,  near  the  bottom  of  Royal  Exchange 
lane,  I  saw  a  mob  by  Mr.  Greenleaf  's.  I  went  right 
along  into  King  street,  where  I  saw  the  sentinel.  A 
barber's  boy,  who  was  there  crying,  said  the  sentry 
had  struck  him,  and  I  asked  him  what  business  he 
had  to  do  it.  I  went  home  and  staid  at  the  gate  in 
Green's  lane  some  time  ;  Samuel  Gray  (one  of  the 
persons  killed  that  night  in  King  street)  came  along, 
and  asked  where  the  fire  was  ?  I  said  there  was  no 
fire,  it  was  the  soldiers  fighting  ;  he  said,  "  damn  it, 
30 


350  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

I  am  glad  of  it,  I  will  knock  some  of  them  on  the 
head  ;  "  he  ran  off,  I  said  to  him,  "  take  heed  you  do 
not  get  killed  in  the  affray  yourself ;  "  he  said,  "  do 
not  you  fear,  damn  their  bloods."  He  had  a  stick 
under  his  arm.  I  do  not  suppose  he  could  have  got 
into  King  street  two  minutes  before  the  firing. 

Alexander  Cruckshank  —  a  jeweller.  On  the  even- 
ing of  the  fifth  of  March,  as  the  clock  struck  nine,  I 
came  up  Royal  Exchange  lane,  and,  at  the  head  of 
the  lane,  hearing  some  abusive  language  by  two  boys, 
I  stopped  at  Stone's  tavern.  They  were  abusing  the 
sentinel ;  before  the  box  stood  about  twelve  or  four- 
teen other  boys.  I  often  saw  the  two  boys  go  towards 
them  and  back  to  the  sentinel  with  a  fresh  repetition 
of  oaths  ;  they  called  him  lobster  and  rascal,  wished 
he  was  in  hell's  flames,  often  and  often.  I  neither 
heard  nor  saw  the  sentinel  do  any  thing  to  them ;  he 
only  said  it  was  his  post,  and  he  would  maintain  it, 
and  if  they  offered  to  molest  him,  he  would  run  them 
through.  Upon  his  saying  this,  two  boys  made  up 
some  snow  balls,  and  threw  them  at  the  sentinel,  who 
called  out  "guard,"  "guard,"  two  or  three  times, 
very  loud.  Upon  that,  some  soldiers  came  from  to- 
wards the  main  guard,  seven  or  eight  I  believe ;  they 
were  not  of  the  guard  by  their  having  surtout  coats 
on,  they  came  towards  the  sentinel ;  some  had  bay- 
onets, some  swords,  others  sticks  in  their  hands ; 
on  their  approach,  these  people,  and  the  boys  who 
stood  before  the  box,  went  up  to  the  back  of  the 
town  house,  by  the  barber's  shop ;  I  then  crossed 
King  street,  and  intended  to  go  in  by  Pudding  lane. 
Three  or  four  of  these  soldiers  came  down  to  me, 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  351 

damned  me,  and  asked  who  I  was ;  I  said,  I  was 
going  home  peaceably,  and  interfered  with  neither 
one  side  or  another.  One  of  them,  with  a  bayonet 
or  sword,  gave  me  a  light  stroke  over  my  shoulder, 
and  said,  "  friend,  you  had  better  go  home,  for  by  all 
I  can  foresee,  there  will  be  the  devil  to  pay  or  blood 
shed  this  night ;  "  they  turned  and  went  towards  the 
sentinel,  at  the  custom  house.  I  then  went  up  by 
the  guard  house,  and  when  I  had  passed  it  a  little 
way,  I  saw  the  soldiers  who  went  down  before  the 
custom  house  returning  back,  with  a  mob  before 
them,  driving  them  up  past  the  guard  house.  I  step- 
ped on  pretty  quick,  and  endeavored  to  get  into  Mr. 
Jones's  (apothecary's)  shop. 

"  What  number  of  people  were  there  before  the 
soldiers  ? " 

"  Sixteen  or  eighteen.  Some  of  them  were  boys, 
but  the  most  of  them  were  men  from  twenty  to  five- 
and-twenty  years  of  age,  I  believe  ;  Jones's  people 
shut  the  door  and  would  not  let  me  in  ;  I  went  to  the 
side  of  the  brick  meetinghouse,  and  saw  two  or  three 
boys  or  lads,  pushing  at  the  windows  to  get  in  and 
ring  the  bell.  I  went  home." 

"  Did  you  take  the  stroke  you  received  from  the 
soldiers  to  be  in  anger  ? " 

"  No,  it  was  not  in  anger,  it  was  very  light." 

William  Davis  —  sergeant  major  of  the  fourteenth 
regiment.  On  Monday  evening,  the  fifth  of  March, 
about  eight  o'clock,  I  was  going  towards  the  North 
end  in  Fore  street,  near  Wentworth's  wharf,  and  saw 
about  two  hundred  people  in  the  street  before  me.  I 
then  stept  aside.  I  saw  several  armed  with  clubs,  and 


352  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

large  sticks,  and  some  had  guns  ;  they  came  down  by 
twos  and  threes  abreast ;  they  were  a  minute  in  pass- 
ing me.  I  saw  no  soldier  in  the  street.  I  heard 
them  saying,  "  damn  the  dogs,  knock  them  down,  we 
will  knock  down  the  first  officer  or  bloody  backed  ras- 
cal we  shall  meet  this  night."  Some  of  them  then  said 
they  would  go  to  the  southward,  and  join  some  of 
their  friends  there,  and  attack  the  damned  scoundrels, 
and  drive  them  out  of  the  town,  for  they  had  no  busi- 
ness here.  Apprehending  danger  if  I  should  be  in 
my  regimentals,  I  went  into  a  house  at  the  North 
end  and  changed  my  dress,  and  on  my  return  from 
the  North  end  about  nine,  coming  near  Dock  square, 
I  heard  a  great  noise,  a  whistling  and  rattling  of 
wood.  I  came  near  the  market  place,  and  saw  a 
great  number  of  people  there,  knocking  against  the 
posts,  and  tearing  up  the  stalls,  saying  "  damn  the 
lobsters,  where  are  they  now."  I  heard  several 
voices,'  some  said  "  let  us  kill  that  damned  scoundrel 
of  a  sentry,  and  then  attack  the  main  guard  ;  "  some 
said,  "  let  us  go  to  Smith's  barracks,"  others  said, 
"  let  us  go  to  the  ropewalks."  They  divided ;  the 
largest  number  went  up  Royal  Exchange  lane,  and 
another  party  up  Fitch's  alley,  and  the  rest  through 
the  main  street,  up  Cornhill.  I  passed  by  the  Gold- 
en Ball,  I  saw  no  person  there  but  a  woman,  per- 
suading a  man  to  stay  at  home  j  he  said  he  would 
not ;  he  would  go  amongst  them  if  he  lost  his  life  by 
it.  I  went  into  King  street;  looking  towards  the 
custom  house,  I  saw  a  number  of  people  seemingly 
in  great  commotion ;  I  went  towards  my  barracks, 
and  near  the  fish  stall  at  Oliver's  dock  I  met  a  great 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  353 

number  of  people  coming  towards  King  street,  with 
clubs  and  large  sticks.  It  wras  past  nine,  for  I  had 
heard  bells  ring  before.  One  of  them  was  loading 
his  piece  by  Oliver's  dock ;  he  said  he  would  do  for 
some  of  these  scoundrels  that  night.  The  people 
were  using  threats  against  the  soldiers  and  commis- 
sioners, "  damn  the  scoundrels  and  villains  of  sol- 
diers and  commissioners,  and  damn  the  villain  that 
first  sent  them  to  Boston  ;  they  shall  not  be  here  two 
nights  longer."  I  went  to  my  barracks ;  the  roll 
had  been  called,  and  there  was  not  a  man  absent, 
except  some  officers  that  quartered  in  the  town,  and 
their  servants.  Immediately  after,  I  heard,  as  it  were, 
a  gun  fired  in  King  street,  and  afterwards  two  or 
three  more. 

Nathaniel  Russell  —  a  chair-maker.  On  the  even- 
ing of  the  fifth  of  March,  between  nine  and  ten 
o'clock,  being  at  my  own  house  and  hearing  the  bells 
ring,  I  ran  out  to  know  where  the  fire  was.  I  got 
from  Byles's  meeting  house  down  to  the  South  meet- 
ing house  ;  I  saw  a  number  of  men  and  boys  armed 
with  clubs,  and  fifteen  or  twenty  more  coming  along ; 
some  were  damning  the  soldiers,  that  they  would 
destroy  them,  and  sink  them,  and  they  would  have 
revenge  for  something  or  other,  I  could  not  tell  what ; 
that  they  would  drive  them  before  them.  Some  of 
the  people  there  said  they  had  been  to  Rowe's  bar- 
racks, and  had  driven  the  soldiers  or  the  sentinel 
into  the  barracks.  I  saw  a  number  of  people  with 
clubs,  and  at  a  distance  a  parcel  of  soldiers  at  the 
custom  house ;  I  went  down  to  the  right  of  them 
where  Captain  Preston  stood  ;  I  had  not  been  there 
30* 


354  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

a  minute,  before  the  guns  were  fired,  previous  to 
which,  I  saw  several  things  thrown  at  the  soldiers,  as 
they  stood  in  a  circle  by  the  custom  house.  Upon 
these  things  being  thrown,  I  intended  to  retreat  as 
fast  as  I  could.  I  had  not  got  three  yards  before  the 
guns  were  fired,  first  one,  then  another  and  so  on ;  I 
think  there  were  seven  in  all. 

"  Before  you  turned,  did  you  see  any  thing  strike 
the  guns?" 

"  I  did  not  see,  but  I  heard  something  strike,  and 
the  guns  clatter.  There  was  a  great  noise,  the  cry 
was,  Jire,  damn  you  fire." 

"  Was  the  cry  general?  " 

"  Yes,  it  was  general." 

"  How  many  people  do  you  imagine  were  then 
gathered  round  the  party  ? " 

"  Fifty  or  sixty  able-bodied  men." 

"  Did  they  crowd  near  the  soldiers  ? " 

"  So  near  that  I  think  you  could  not  get  your  hat 
between  them  and  the  bayonets." 

"  How  many  people  do  you  think  there  might  be 
in  the  whole  ? " 

"  About  two  hundred." 

"  Did  the  soldiers  say  any  thing  to  the  people  ? " 

"  They  never  opened  their  lips ;  they  stood  in  a 
trembling  manner,  as  if  they  expected  nothing  but 
death.  They  fired  first  on  the  right.  I  was  looking 
on  the  whole  body,  there  was  no  one  between  me 
and  the  soldiers  that  interrupted  my  sight ;  I  saw  no 
blows  given,  or  any  of  the  soldiers  fall." 

"  Might  not  their  trembling  proceed  from  rage  as 
well  as  fear  ?  " 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  355 

"  It  might  proceed  from  both." 

Henry  Knox  —  a  stationer.  I  was  at  the  North  end, 
and  heard  the  bells  ring.  I  thought  it  was  fire,  and 
came  up  as  usual  to  go  to  the  fire.  I  heard  it  was 
not  fire,  but  that  the  soldiers  and  inhabitants  were 
fighting.  I  came  by  Cornhill,  and  there  were  a  num- 
ber of  people,  an  hundred  and  fifty  or  two  hundred. 
I  asked  them  what  was  the  matter,  they  said  a  num- 
ber of  soldiers  had  been  out  with  bayonets  and  cut- 
lasses, and  had  attacked  and  cut  the  people  all  down 
Cornhill,  and  then  retreated  to  their  barrack.  A  fel- 
low said  they  had  been  cutting  fore  and  aft.  The 
people  fell  gradually  down  to  Dock  square.  I  came 
up  Cornhill,  and  went  down  King  street.  The  senti- 
nel at  the  custom  house  steps  was  loading  his  piece ; 
coming  up  to  the  people,  they  said  the  sentinel  was 
going  to  fire.  There  were  at  that  time  about  fifteen 
or  twenty  people  round  him.  He  was  waving  his 
piece  about,  and  held  it  in  the  position  that  they 
call  "  charged  bayonets."  I  told  him  if  he  fired  he 
must  die  for  it ;  he  said  damn  them,  if  they  molested 
him  he  would  fire  ;  the  boys  were  hallooing  "  fire  and 
be  damned."  These  boys  were  seventeen  or  eighteen 
years  old.  I  endeavored  to  keep  one  fellow  off  from 
the  sentinel,  and  either  struck  him  or  pushed  him 
away. 

"  Did  you  hear  one  of  the  persons  say,  '  God  damn 
him,  we  will  knock  him  down  for  snapping? ' " 

"  Yes,  I  did  hear  a  young  fellow,  one  Usher,  about 
eighteen  years  of  age,  say  this." 

Benjamin  Lee  —  an  apprentice.  On  the  evening 
of  the  fifth  of  March  I  heard  that  there  was  fire,  and 


356  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

went  to  Dock  square.  When  I  came  there  I  heard 
some  in  the  crowd  say,  that  the  town's  people  had 
been  fighting  with  the  soldiers,  and  then  they  huz- 
zaed for  King  street.  Several  beside  me  went  up ; 
they  went  up  as  thick  as  they  could,  and  some*  went 
up  the  next  lane,  and  others  up  Cornhill.  As  I  stood 
by  the  sentinel,  there  was  a  barber's  boy  came  up 
and  pointed  to  the  sentinel,  and  said,  "  there  is  the 
son  of  a  bitch  that  knocked  me  down  ; "  on  his  say- 
ing this,  the  people  immediately  cried  out,  "  kill  him, 
kill  him,  knock  him  down."  I  believe  there  were  as 
many  there  as  in  this  court,  some  boys,  some  men. 
The  sentinel  went  up  the  custom  house  steps  and 
knocked  at  the  door  with  the  but  of  his  gun,  but 
could  n,ot  get  in  ;  then  he  primed  and  loaded,  and 
leveled  it  with  his  hip,  and  desired  the  people  to 
stand  off,  and  then  called  to  the  main  guard  to  come 
down  to  his  assistance. 
"  Did  he  call  loud  ? " 
"  Yes,  very  loud." 

"  What  was  the  expression  he  used  ? " 
"  Turn  out,  main  guard.     Then  Captain  Preston 
and  nine  or  ten  soldiers  came  down,  and  ranged 
themselves  before  the  sentry  box." 

"  Did  you  see  any  thing  thrown  at  the  sentinel  ?  " 
"  No." 

"  Did  you  hear  the  people  halloo  or  shout?  " 
"  They  whistled  through  their  fingers  and  huzzaed." 
Andrew,  Oliver  Wendell's  negro.    On  the  evening 
of  the  fifth  March  I  was  at  home.     I  heard  the  bells 
ring,  and  went  to  the  gate,  and  saw  one  of  my  ac- 
quaintances ;  we  ran  down  to  the  end  of  the  lane 


THE    BOSTON   MASSACRE.  357 

and  saw  another  acquaintance  coming  up  holding  his 
arm.  I  asked  him  what  was  the  matter ;  he  said  the 
soldiers  were  righting,  had  got  cutlasses,  and  were 
killing  every  body,  and  that  one  of  them  had  struck 
him  on  the  arm,  and  almost  cut  it  off;  he  told  me  I 
had  best  not  go  down ;  I  said  a  good  club  was  better 
than  a  cutlass,  and  he  had  better  go  down  and  see  if 
he  could  not  cut  some  too.  I  went  to  the  town 
house,  saw  the  sentinels  placed  at  the  main  guard 
standing  by  Mr.  Bowe's  corner ;  numbers  of  boys  on 
the  other  side  of  the  way  were  throwing  snow  balls 
at  them.  The  sentinels  were  enraged  and  swearing  at 
the  boys  ;  the  boys  called  them  "  lobsters,"  "  bloody 
backs,"  and  hallooed  "  who  buys  lobsters  ? "  Pres- 
ently I  heard  three  cheers  given  in  King  street,  and 
went  down  to  the  whipping-post  and  stood  by  Wal- 
do's shop  ;  I  saw  a  number  of  people  round  the  sen- 
tinel at  the  custom  house ;  there  were  also  a  number 
of  people  who  stood  where  I  did,  and  were  picking 
up  pieces  of  sea  coal  that  had  been  thrown  out  there- 
about, and  snow  balls,  and  throwing  them  over  at 
the  sentinel.  While  I  was  standing  there,  two  or 
three  boys  ran  out  from  among  the  people,  and  cried, 
"  we  have  got  his  gun  away,  and  now  we  will  have 
him ; "  presently  I  heard  three  cheers  given  by  the 
people  at  the  custom  house ;  I  said  to  my  acquaint- 
ance I  would  run  up  and  see  whether  the  guard 
would  turn  out.  I  went  and  saw  a  file  of  men,  with 
an  officer  with  a  laced  hat  on  before  them ;  upon 
that  we  all  went  to  go  towards  him,  and  when  we 
had  got  about  half  way  to  them,  the  officer  said 
something  to  them,  and  they  filed  off  down  the  street. 


358  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

Upon  that  I  went  in  the  shade  towards  the  guard 
house,  and  followed  them  down  as  far  as  Mr.  Peck's 
corner  ;  I  saw  them  pass  through  the  crowd,  and 
plant  themselves  by  the  custom  house.  As  soon  as 
they  got  there  the  people  gave  three  cheers.  I  went 
to  cross  over  to  where  the  soldiers  were,  and  as  soon 
as  I  got  a  glimpsesof  them,  I  heard  somebody  huzza 
and  say  here  is  old  Murray  with  the  riot  act,  and 
they  began  to  pelt  with  snow  balls ;  a  man  set  out 
and  run,  and  I  followed  him  as  far  as  Phillips's  corner, 
and  then  turned  back  and  went  through  the  people 
until  I  got  to  the  head  of  Royal  Exchange  lane,  right 
against  the  soldiers ;  the  first  word  I  heard  was  a 
grenadier  saying  to  a  man  by  me,  "  Damn  you,  stand 
back."  He  was  so  near  that  the  grenadier  might 
have  run  him  through  if  he  had  slept  one  step  for- 
ward. While  I  stopt  to  look  at  him,  a  person  came 
to  get  through  betwixt  the  grenadier  and  me,  and 
the  soldier  had  liked  to  have  pricked  him ;  he  turned 
about  and  said,  "  you  damned  lobster,  bloody  back, 
are  you  going  to  stab  me  ; "  the  soldier  said,  "  by 
God  I  will."  Presently  somebody  took  hold  of  me 
by  the  shoulder,  and  told  me  to  go  home,  or  I  should 
be  hurt ;  at  the  same  time  there  were  a  number  of 
people  towards  the  town  house,  who  said,  come  away 
and  let  the  guard  alone,  you  have  nothing  at  all  to 
do  with  them.  I  turned  about  and  saw  the  officer 
standing  before  the  men,  and  one  or  two  persons  en- 
gaged in  talk  with  him.  A  number  were  jumping 
on  the  backs  of  those  that  were  talking  with  the  offi- 
cer, to  get  as  near  as  they  could.  Upon  this  I  went 
as  close  to  the  officer  as  I  could  :  one  of  the  per- 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  359 

sons  who  was  talking  with  the  officer  turned  about 
quick  to  the  people,  and  said,  "  Damn  him,  he  is  go- 
ing to  fire  ;  "  upon  that  they  gave  a  shout,  and  cried 
out,  "  fire  and  be  damned,  who  cares  for  you,  you 
dare  not  fire,"  and  began  to  throw  snow  balls,  and 
other  things  which  then  flew  very  thick.  I  saw  two 
or  three  of  them  hit,  one  struck  a  grenadier  on  the 
hat.  The  people  who  were  right  before  them  had 
sticks,  and  as  the  soldiers  were  pushing  with  their 
guns  back  and  forth,  they  struck  their  guns,  and  one 
hit  a  grenadier  on  the  fingers.  At  this  time  the  peo- 
ple up  at  the  town  house  called  again,  "  come  away, 
come  away  ; "  a  stout  man  who  stood  near  me,  and 
right  before  the  grenadiers,  as  they  pushed  with  their 
bayonets  with  the  length  of  their  arms,  kept  striking 
on  their  guns.  The  people  seemed  to  be  leaving 
the  soldiers,  and  to  turn  from  them,  when  there 
came  down  a  number  from  Jackson's  corner  huz- 
zaing and  crying,  "  damn  them,  they  dare  not  fire, 
we  are  not  afraid  of  them."  One  of  these  people, 
a  stout  man  with  a  long,  cord  wood  stick,  threw  him- 
self in,  and  made  a  blow  at  the  officer.  I  saw  the 
officer  try  to  ward  off  the  stroke  ;  whether  he  struck 
him  or  not  I  do  not  know  ;  the  stout  man  then 
turned  round,  and  struck  the  grenadier's  gun  at  the 
captain's  right  hand,  and  immediately  fell  in  with  his 
club,  and  knocked  his  gun  away,  and  struck  him 
over  the  head ;  the  blow  came  either  on  the  soldier's 
cheek  or  hat.  This  stout  man  held  the  bayonet  with 
his  left  hand,  and  twitched  it  and  cried,  "  kill  the  dogs, 
knock  them  over."  This  was  the  general  cry.  The 
people  then  crowded  in,  and  upon  that,  the  grena- 


360  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

dier  gave  a  twitch  back  and  relieved  his  gun,  and  he 
up  with  it  and  began  to  pay  away  on  the  people.  I 
was  then  between  the  officer  and  this  grenadier  ;  I 
turned  to  go  off,  when  I  heard  the  word  "  fire  ;  "  at 
the  word  fire,  I  thought  I  heard  the  report  of  a  gun, 
and  upon  my  hearing  the  report,  I  saw  the  same 
grenadier  swing  his  gun,  and  immediately  he  dis- 
charged it. 

"  Do  you  know  who  this  stout  man  was  that  fell 
in  and  struck  the  grenadier  ? " 

"  I  thought,  and  still  think,  it  was  the  mulatto  who 
was  shot." 

"  Do  you  know  the  grenadier  who  was  thus  as- 
saulted, and  fired?" 

"  I  then  thought  it  was  Killroy,  and  I  told  Mr. 
Q,uincy  so  the  next  morning  after  the  affair  happen- 
ed ;  I  now  think  it  was  he  from  my  best  observation, 
but  I  can't  positively  swear  it." 

"  Did  the  soldiers  of  that  party,  or  any  of  them, 
step  or  move  out  of  the  rank  in  which  they  stood,  to 
push  the  people  ?" 

"  No  ;  and  if  they  had  they  might  have  killed  me 
and  many  others  with  their  bayonets." 

"  Did  you,  as  you  passed  through  the  people  to- 
wards Royal  Exchange  lane  and  the  party,  see  a 
number  of  people  take  up  any  and  every  thing  they 
could  find  in  the  street,  and  throw  them  at  the  sol- 
diers?" 

"  Yes,  I  saw  ten  or  fifteen  round  me  do  it." 

"  Did  you  yourself  pick  up  every  thing  you  could 
find,  and  throw  at  them  ?" 

"  Yes,  I  did." 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  361 

"  After  the  gun  was  fired,  where  did  you  go  ?  " 

"  I  ran  as  fast  as  I  could  into  the  first  door  I  saw 
open,  which  I  think  was  Mr.  Dehon's ;  I  was  very 
much  frightened." 

Oliver  Wendell  —  a  merchant.  The  witness  last 
examined  is  my  servant.  His  general  character  for 
truth  is  good.  I  have  heard  his  testimony,  and  be- 
lieve it  to  be  true  ;  he  gave  the  same  relation  of  this 
matter  to  me  on  the  same  evening,  in  a  quarter  of  an 
hour  after  the  affair  happened;  I  then  asked  him 
whether  our  people  were  to  blame,  and  he  said  they 
were. 

"  Pray,  sir,  is  it  not  usual  for  Andrew  to  amplify 
and  embellish  a  story  ?" 

"  He  is  a  fellow  of  a  lively  imagination,  and  will 
sometimes  amuse  the  servants  in  the  kitchen,  but  I 
never  knew  him  tell  a  serious  lie." 

William  Whittington.  —  I  was  in  King  street  a 
quarter  after  nine  o'clock  on  the  fifth  of  March,  and 
two  others  with  me ;  in  a  little  while  I  heard  the 
bells  ring,  and  I  made  a  stop  and  asked  what  was 
the  matter  ?  They  said  there  was  a  fire.  I  saw 
several  people  with  buckets,  and  I  asked  them  where 
they  were  going  ?  They  said  there  was  fire  some- 
where. I  came  up  by  Pudding  lane,  and  went  in 
between  the  guard  and  guard  house,  for  at  this  time 
the  main  guard  was  turned  out ;  I  saw  Mr.  Basset 
the  officer,  and  Captain  Preston  ;  while  I  was  stand- 
ing there,  some  person  in  the  crowd  fronting  the  sol- 
diers cried  out  to  the  guard,  "  will  you  stand  there 
and  see  the  sentinel  murdered  at  the  custom-house  ?" 
Captain  Preston  and  Mr.  Basset  were  both  together ; 
31 


362  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

Mr.  Basset  said  to  Captain  Preston,  "  what  shall  I  do 
in  this  case  ?"  Said  Preston,  "  take  out  six  or  seven 
of  the  men,  and  let  them  go  down  to  the  assistance 
of  the  sentry."  I  think  there  were  six  men  ordered 
out  of  the  ranks ;  they  formed  themselves  by  files, 
the  corporal  marched  in  the  front,  and  the  Captain 
in  the  rear  ;  I  was  at  this  time  on  the  outside  of  the 
soldiers  on  the  left  hand,  and  I  kept  on  the  outside 
from  the  time  they  marched  from  the  parade  till  they 
came  to  the  custom-house  ;  but  how  they  formed 
'themselves  when  they  came  there,  I  did  not  see  ;  but 
when  I  saw  them  they  were  formed  in  a  half  circle. 
I  was  about  two  or  three  yards  distance  from  them. 
I  heard  Captain  Preston  use  many  entreaties  to  the 
populace,  begging  they  would  disperse  and  go  home, 
but  what  they  said  I  cannot  tell ;  I  heard  them  hal- 
loo, "  fire  !"  "  fire  !"  "  you  dare  not  fire,"  "  we 
know  you  dare  not  fire."  Captain  Preston  desired 
them  to  go  home  many  times ;  I  departed  and  saw 
no  more  of  them. 

Harrison  Gray,jun.  — That  evening,  upon  return- 
ing home,  I  saw  a  number  of  people  round  the 
sentinel,  making  use  of  opprobrious  language  and 
threatenings  ;  I  desired  them  to  go  off,  and  said  the 
consequence  would  be  fatal  if  they  did  not ;  some 
few  snow  balls  were  thrown,  and  abusive  language 
continued,  they  said,  "  damn  him,  let  him  fire,  he 
can  fire  but  one  gun." 

"  How  many  were  there  ?" 

"  There  might  be  from  seventy  to  an  hundred,  I 
did  not  particularly  observe  ;  when  I  could  not  pre- 
vail to  get  them  off,  I  went  to  Mr.  Payne's.  In  a 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  363 

little  while  the  party  came  down,  and  I  saw  nothing 
afterwards  ;  soon  after  I  heard  the  guns  fired,  and 
Mr.  Payne  was  wounded  by  one  of  them.  I  told 
the  people,  the  sentinel  was  on  duty,  that  was  his 
post,  that  he  had  a  right  to  walk  there,  and  that  he 
could  have  enough  to  relieve  him,  if  he  stood  in  need 
of  it,  as  he  was  so  near  the  main  guard." 

John  Jeffries  —  a  surgeon.  I  was  Patrick  Carr's 
surgeon,  in  company  with  others.  After  dressing' 
his  wounds,  I  advised  him  never  to  go  again  into 
quarrels  and  riots.  He  said  he  saw  many  things 
thrown  at  the  sentry  ;  he  believed  they  were  oyster 
shells  and  ice  ;  he  heard  the  people  huzza  every  time 
they  heard  any  thing  strike  that  sounded  hard  ;  he 
then  saw  some  soldiers  going  down  towards  the  cus- 
tom-house ;  he  saw  the  people  pelt  them  as  they 
went  along.  After  they  had  got  down  there,  he 
crossed  over  towards  Warden  and  Vernon's  shop,  in 
order  to  see  what  they  would  do ;  as  he  was  passing 
he  was  shot,  and  was  taken  up  and  carried  home  to 
Mr.  Field's  by  some  of  his  friends.  I  asked  him 
whether  he  thought  the  soldiers  would  fire  ;  he  told 
me  he  thought  the  soldiers  would  have  fired  long  be- 
fore. I  then  asked  him  whether  he  thought  the  sol- 
diers were  abused  a  great  deal  after  they  went  down 
there ;  he  said  he  thought  they  were.  I  asked  him 
whether  he  thought  the  soldiers  would  have  been 
hurt  if  they  had  not  fired  ;  he  said  he  really  thought 
they  would,  for  he  heard  many  voices  cry  out,  "  kill 
them."  I  asked  him  then,  meaning  to  close  all, 
whether  he  thought  they  fired  in  self-defence,  or  on 
purpose  to  destroy  the  people  ;  he  said  he  really 


364  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

thought  they  did  fire  to  defend  themselves,  that  he 
did  not  blame  the  man,  whoever  he  was,  that  shot 
him.  This  conversation  was  on  Wednesday.  He 
always  gave  the  same  answers  to  the  same  questions, 
every  time  I  visited  him.  He  was  informed  by  me 
of  his  dangerous  situation.  He  told  me  he  was  a 
native  of  Ireland  ;  that  he  had  frequently  seen  mobs, 
and  soldiers  called  upon  to  quell  them.  Whenever 
he  mentioned  that,  he  always  called  himself  a  fool, 
that  he  might  have  known  better,  that  he  had  seen 
soldiers  often  fire  on  the  people  in  Ireland,  but  had 
never  in  his  life  seen  them  bear  half  so  much  before 
they  fired.  He  lived  ten  days  after  he  received  his 
wound.  I  had  the  last  conversation  with  him  about 
four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  preceding  the  night  on 
which  he  died,  and  he  then  particularly  said,  he  for- 
gave the  man,  whoever  he  was,  that  shot  him  ;  he 
was  satisfied  he  had  no  malice,  but  fired  to  defend 
himself. 

Edward  Payne  —  a  merchant,1  produced  on  the 
part  of  the  crown.  On  Monday  evening,  the  fifth 
of  March,  I  went  to  Mr.  Amory's  ;  while  I  was  there 
the  bell  rang,  which  I  supposed  was  for  nine  o'clock  ; 
I  looked  at  the  clock,  it  was  twenty  minutes  after 
nine.  I  was  going  out  to  inquire  where  the  fire 
was  ;  Mr.  Taylor  came  in,  and  said  there  was  no  fire, 
but  he  understood  the  soldiers  were  coming  up  to  cut 


1  His  house  was  in  King  street,  nearly  opposite  the  custom- 
house, on  the  spot  where  the  office  of  the  Massachusetts  Fire  and 
Marine  Insurance  Company  now  stands.  While  standing  at  his 
door,  conversing  with  Harrison  Gray,  jun.  on  the  evening  referred 
to,  he  was  wounded  in  the  arm,  when  the  soldiers  fired. 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  365 

down  liberty  tree !  I  then  went  out  to  make  in- 
quiry ;  before  I  had  got  into  King  street,  I  met  Mr. 
Walker  the  ship  carpenter,  and  asked  him  what  the 
matter  was  ;  he  said  the  soldiers  had  sallied  out  from 
Smith's  barracks,  and  had  fallen  on  the  inhabitants, 
and  had  cut  and  wounded  a  number  of  them,  but 
that  they  were  driven  into  the  barracks ;  I  then  went 
to  my  house  to  inform  Mrs.  Payne  that  it  was  not 
fire,  apprehending  she  might  be  frightened  ;  I  imme- 
diately went  out  again,  there  was  nobody  in  the 
street  at  all ;  the  sentry  at  the  custom-house  was 
walking  as  usual,  nobody  near  him  ;  I  went  up  to- 
wards the  town  house,  where  was  a  number  of  peo- 
ple and  inquired  of  them  what  the  matter  was  ?  They 
gave  me  the  same  account  that  Mr.  Walker  did. 
While  I  stood  there,  I  heard  a  noise  in  Cornhill,  and 
presently  I  heard  a  noise  of  some  people  coming  up 
Silsby's  alley  ;  at  first  I  imagined  it  was  soldiers,  and 
had  some  thoughts  of  retiring  up  the  town  house 
steps,  but  soon  found  they  were  inhabitants.  I  stood 
till  they  came  up  to  me ;  I  believe  there  might  be 
twenty  at  the  extent ;  some  of  the  persons  had  sticks, 
some  had  not ;  I  believe  there  were  as  many  with 
sticks  as  without ;  they  made  a  considerable  noise, 
and  cried,  "  where  are  they  ?  where  are  they  ?  "  At 
this  time  there  came  up  a  barber's  boy,  and  said  the 
sentry  at  the  custom-house  had  knocked  down  a  boy 
belonging  to  their  shop ;  the  people  then  turned 
about  and  went  down  to  the  sentry  ;  I  was  then  left 
as  it  were  alone  ;  I  proceeded  towards  my  own  house  ; 
I  met  Mr.  Spear  the  cooper,  he  said,  do  not  go  away, 
I  am  afraid  the  main  guard  will  come  down ;  I  told 
31* 


366  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

him  I  was  more  afraid  of  those  people  that  had  sur- 
rounded the  sentry,  and  desired  him,  if  he  had  any 
influence  over  them,  to  endeavor  to  take  them  off; 
and  when  directly  opposite  to  the  custom-house  I 
saw  a  number  of  persons  going  up  the  steps,  and 
heard  a  violent  knocking  at  the  door  ;  the  sentry 
stood  by  the  box  as  I  took  it ;  I  stopped  to  see  if  they 
opened  the  custom-house  door  to  let  them  in,  and 
found  they  did  not  open  the  door  ;  I  then  retired  to 
my  own  house,  and  stood  on  the  sill  of  my  door.  I 
remained  at  my  door,  and  Mr.  Harrison  Gray  came 
up  and  stood  there  talking  with  me  ;  the  people  were 
crying  out,  "  fire  !  fire  !  damn  you,  why  do  you  not 
fire?  "  Mr.  Gray  and  I  were  talking  of  the  foolish- 
ness of  the  people  in  calling  the  sentry  to  fire  on 
them  ;  in  about  a  minute  after,  I  saw  a  number  of 
soldiers  come  down  from  the  main  guard,  and  it 
appeared  to  me  they  had  their  muskets  in  a  hori- 
zontal posture  ;  they  went  towards  the  custom-house, 
and  shoved  the  people  from  the  house ;  I  did  not  see 
in  what  manner  they  drew  up;  at  this  time  Mr. 
Bethune  joined  us  on  my  steps  at  the  door,  and  the 
noise  in  the  street  continued  much  the  same  as  be- 
fore, "  fire  !  fire  !  damn  you,  fire  !  why  do  you  not 
fire  ?  Soon  after  this,  I  thought  I  heard  a  gun  snap, 
and  said  to  Mr.  Gray,  "  there  is  a  gun  snapped,  did 
you  not  hear  it  ?  "  He  said  "  yes  ;  "  immediately  a 
gun  went  off,  I  reached  to  see  whether  it  was  loaded 
with  powder,  or  any  body  lying  dead  ;  I  heard  three 
more,  then  there  was  a  pause,  and  I  heard  the  iron 
rammers  go  into  their  guns,  and  then  there  were  three 
more  discharged,  one  after  another ;  it  appeared  to 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  367 

me  there  were  seven  in  all ;  as  soon  as  the  last  gun 
was  discharged,  I  perceived  I  was  wounded,  and  went 
into  the  house. 

The  examination  of  the  witnesses  for  the  defend- 
ants occupied  four  days.  After  it  was  concluded 
the  court  adjourned  to  the  following  Monday,  when 
Mr.  Josiah  Quincy,  jun.  concluded  his  remarks,  as 
follows : 

May  it  please  your  Honors,  and  you,  Gentlemen  of  the  Jury, 

We  have  at  length  gone  through  the  evidence  in 
behalf  of  the  prisoners.  The  witnesses  have  placed 
before  you  that  state  of  facts  from  which  results  our 
defence.  The  examination  has  been  so  lengthy,  that 
I  am  afraid  some  painful  sensations  arise,  when  you 
find  that  you  are  now  to  sit  and  hear  the  remarks  of 
counsel.  But  you  should  reflect,  that  no  more  indul- 
gence is  shown  to  the  prisoners  now  on  trial,  than 
has  ever  been  shown  in  all  capital  causes  ;  the  trial 
of  one  man  has  often  taken  up  several  days :  when 
you  consider,  therefore,  that  there  are  eight  lives  in 
issue,  the  importance  of  the  trial  will  show  the  neces- 
sity of  its  length.  To  each  of  the  prisoners  different 
evidence  applies,  and  they  each  of  them  draw  their 
defence  from  different  quarters. 

In  my  former  remarks  upon  opening  this  cause  to 
you,  gentlemen,  I  pointed  out  the  dangers  to  which 
you  were  exposed.  How  much  need  was  there  for 
my  desire,  that  you  should  suspend  your  judgment 
till  the  witnesses  were  all  examined !  How  different 
is  the  complexion  of  the  cause  !  Will  not  all  this 


368  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

serve  to  show  every  honest  man  the  little  truth  to  be 
attained  in  partial  hearings  ?  We  have  often  seen 
communities  complain  of  ex  parte  testimonies  ;  indi- 
viduals, as  well  as  societies  of  men,  are  equally  sus- 
ceptible of  injuries  of  this  kind.  This  trial  ought  to 
have  another  effect ;  it  should  serve  to  convince  us 
all  of  the  impropriety,  nay  injustice,  of  giving  a  lati- 
tude in  conversation  upon  topics  likely  to  come 
under  a  judicial  decision  ;  the  criminality  of  this  con- 
duct is  certainly  enhanced,  when  such  loose  sallies 
and  discourses  are  so  prevalent  as  to  be  likely  to 
touch  the  life  of  a  citizen.  Moreover,  there  is  so 
little  certainty  to  be  obtained  by  such  kind  of  methods, 
that  I  wonder  we  so  often  find  them  practised.  In  the 
present  case,  how  great  was  the  prepossession  against 
us  !  And  I  appeal  to  you,  gentlemen,  what  cause 
there  now  is  to  alter  our  sentiments.  Will  any  so- 
ber, prudent  man  countenance  the  proceedings  of 
the  people  in  King  street  ?  Can  any  one  justify 
their  conduct  ?  Is  there  any  one  man,  or  any  body 
of  men,  who  are  interested  to  espouse  and  support 
their  conduct  ?  Surely  not.  But  our  inquiry  must 
be  confined  to  the  legality  of  their  conduct ;  and 
here  can  be  no  difficulty.  It  was  certainly  illegal, 
unless  many  witnesses  are  directly  perjured ;  wit- 
nesses, who  have  no  apparent  interest  to  falsify  — 
witnesses,  who  have  given  their  testimony  with  can- 
dor and  accuracy — witnesses,  whose  credibility  stands 
untouched — whose  credibility  the  counsel  for  the  king 
do  not  pretend  to  impeach,  or  hint  a  suggestion  to 
their  disadvantage. 

The  conduct  of  the  soldiers  in  Cornhill  may  well  be 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  369 

supposed  to  have  exasperated  the  minds  of  all  who 
beheld  their  behavior.  Their  actions  accumulated 
guilt,  as  it  flew ;  at  least,  we  may  well  suppose,  the 
incensed  people  who  related  them  added  new  colors 
to  the  scene.  The  flame  of  resentment  imperceptibly 
enkindles,  and  a  common  acquaintance  with  human 
nature  will  show  it  to  be  no  extravagant  supposition 
to  imagine  that  many  a  moderate  man  might  at  such 
a  season,  with  such  sentiments,  which  I  have  more 
than  once  noticed,  hearing  such  relations  and  com- 
plaints—  I  say,  do  I  injure  any  one,  in  supposing, 
that  under  all  these  circumstances,  a  very  moderate 
person,  who  in  ordinary  matters  acted  with  singular 
discretion,  should  now  be  drawn  imperceptibly  away 
or  rather  transported  into  measures,  which  in  a  future 
moment  he  would  condemn  and  lament.  What  more 
natural  supposition,  than  to  suppose  many  an  honest 
mind  might  at  this  time  fluctuate  thus.  The  soldiers 
are  here ;  we  wish  them  away  ;  we  did  not  send  for 
them ;  they  have  cut  and  wounded  the  peaceable  in- 
habitants, and  it  may  be  my  turn  next.  At  this 
instant  of  time,  he  has  a  fresh  detail  of  injuries  — 
resentment  redoubles  every  successive  moment  — 
huzza  for  the  main  guard  !  we  are  in  a  moment  be- 
fore the  custom-house.  No  time  is  given  for  recol- 
lection. We  find,  from  the  king's  evidence,  and 
from  our  own,  the  cry  was  "  Here  is  a  soldier !"  Not 
"  here  is  the  soldier  who  has  injured  us  —  here  is 
the  fellow  who  wounded  the  man  in  Cornhill."  No, 
the  reasoning  or  rather  ferment  seems  to  be,  the  sol- 
diers have  committed  an  outrage,  we  have  an  equal 
right  to  inflict  punishment,  or  rather  revenge,  which 


370  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

they  had  to  make  an  assault.  They  said  right,  but 
never  considered,  that  those  soldiers  had  no  right  at 
all.  These  are  sentiments  natural  enough  to  persons 
in  this  state  of  mind  —  we  can  easily  suppose  even 
good  men  thinking  and  acting  thus.  Very  similar  to 
this  is  the  force  of  Dr.  Hiron's  testimony,  and  some 
others.  But  our  inquiry  is,  what  says  the  law  ?  We 
must  calmly  inquire,  whether  this,  or  any  thing  like 
it,  is  countenanced  by  the  law.  What  is  natural  to 
the  man,  what  are  his  feelings,  are  one  thing :  what 
is  the  duty  of  the  citizen,  is  quite  another.  Reason 
must  resume  her  seat,  and  then  we  shall  hear  and 
obey  the  voice  of  the  law. 

The  law  indulges  no  man  in  being  his  own  aven- 
ger. Early,  in  the  history  of  jurisprudence,  we  find 
the  sword  taken  from  the  party  injured,  and  put  into 
the  hands  of  the  magistrate.  Were  not  this  the  case, 
punishment  would  know  no  bounds  in  extent  or 
duration.  Besides,  it  saps  the  very  root  of  distribu- 
tive justice,  when  any  individual  invades  the  preroga- 
tive of  law,  and  snatches  from  the  civil  magistrate 
the  balance  and  the  rod.  How  much  more  are  the 
pillars  of  security  shaken,  when  a  mixt  body,  assem- 
bled as  those  in  King  street,  assume  the  province  of 
justice,  and  invade  the  rights  of  the  citizen  ?  For  it 
must  not  be  forgotten,  that  the  soldier  is  a  citizen, 
equally  entitled  with  us  all  to  protection  and  security. 
Hence  all  are  alike  obliged  to  pay  obedience  to  the 
law ;  for  the  price  of  this  protection  is  the  duty  of 
obedience. 

Let  it  not  be  apprehended,  that  I  am  advancing  a 
doctrine,  that  a  soldier  may  attack  an  inhabitant,  and 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  371 

he  not  be  allowed  to  defend  himself.  No,  gentle- 
men !  if  a  soldier  rush  violently  through  the  street, 
and  present  a  weapon  of  death  in  a  striking  posture, 
no  doubt  the  person  assailed  may  defend  himself, 
even  to  taking  the  life  of  the  assailant.  Revenge 
and  a  sense  of  self-preservation  instantly  take  posses- 
sion of  the  person  thus  attacked  ;  and  the  law  goes 
not  upon  the  absurd  supposition,  that  a  person  can  in 
these  circumstances  unman  himself.  Hence  we  find, 
if  a  husband,  taking  his  wife  in  the  act  of  adultery, 
instantly  seizes  a  deadly  weapon  and  slays  the  adul- 
terer, it  is  not  murder.  Nay,  a  fillip  upon  the  nose 
or  forehead,  in  anger,  is  supposed  by  the  law  to  be 
sufficient  provocation  to  reduce  killing  to  manslaugh- 
ter. It  is,  therefore,  upon  principles  like  these,  prin- 
ciples, upon  which  those,  who  now  bear  the  hardest 
against  us,  at  other  times,  so  much  depend ;  it  is,  I 
say,  upon  the  right  of  self-defence  and  self-preserva- 
tion we  rely  for  our  acquittal. 

Mr.  Quincy  now  entered,  at  large,  upon  a  review 
of  the  appearances  in  several  parts  of  the  town  ;  he 
was  copious  upon  the  expressions  and  behavior  sworn 
to.  He  then,  more  particularly,  recapitulated  the 
evidence  touching  Murray's  barracks,  Dock  square, 
and  the  Market  place.  He  next  pursued  several 
parties  through  the  several  lanes  and  streets,  till  they 
centered  at  the  scene  of  action.  The  testimonies  of 
the  witnesses,  who  swore  to  the  repeated  information 
given  the  people  ;  that  the  sentry  and  party  were  on 
duty  ;  that  they  were  desired  to  withdraw,  and  warn- 
ed of  the  consequences ;  were  in  their  order  consid- 


372  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

ered.  He  then  remarked  at  length  upon  the  temper 
of  the  sentry,  of  the  party  of  soldiers,  and  of  the  peo- 
ple surrounding  them,  and  continued  as  follows  : 

May  it  please  your  Honors,  and  you,  Gentlemen  of  the  Jury, 

After  having  thus  gone  through  the  evidence,  and 
considered  it  as  applicatory  to  all  and  every  of  the 
prisoners,  the  next  matter  in  order  seems  to  be  the 
consideration  of  the  law  pertinent  upon  this  evidence. 
And  here,  gentlemen,  let  me  again  inform  you,  that 
the  law  which  is  to  pass  upon  these  prisoners,  is  a  law 
adapting  itself  to  the  human  species,  with  all  their 
feelings,  passions,  and  infirmities  ;  a  law  which  does 
not  go  upon  the  absurd  supposition,  that  men  are 
stocks  and  stones  ;  or  that  in  the  fervor  of  the  blood, 
a  man  can  act  with  the  deliberation  and  judgment  of 
a  philosopher.  No,  gentlemen  :  the  law  supposes 
that  a  principle  of  resentment,  for  wise  and  obvious 
reasons,  is  deeply  implanted  in  the  human  heart ;  and 
not  to  be  eradicated  by  the  efforts  of  state  policy. 
It,  therefore,  in  some  degree,  conforms  itself  to  all 
the  workings  of  the  passions,  to  which  it  pays  a  great 
indulgence,  so  far  as  not  to  be  wholly  incompatible 
with  the  wisdom,  good  order,  and  the  very  being  of 
government. 

Keeping,  therefore,  this  full  in  view,  let  us  take 
once  more,  a  very  brief  and  cursory  survey  of  the  mat- 
ters supported  by  the  evidence.  And,  here,  let  me  ask 
sober  reason  —  what  language  more  opprobrious  — 
what  actions  more  exasperating,  than  those  used  on 
this  occasion  ?  Words,  I  am  sensible,  are  no  justifi- 
cation of  blows,  but  they  serve  as  the  grand  clues  to 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  373 

discover  the  temper  and  the  designs  of  the  agents  ; 
they  serve  also  to  give  us  light  in  discerning  the  ap- 
prehensions and  thoughts  of  those  who  are  the  objects 
of  abuse. 

"  You  lobster,"  "  you  bloody  back,"  "  you  cow- 
ard," and  "  you  dastard,"  are  but  some  of  the  ex- 
pressions proved.  What  words  more  galling  ?  What 
more  cutting  and  provoking  to  a  soldier?  To  be 
reminded  of  the  color  of  his  garb,  by  which  he  was 
distinguished  from  the  rest  of  his  fellow  citizens  ;  to 
be  compared  to  the  most  despicable  animal  that 
crawls  upon  the  earth,  was  touching  indeed  a  tender 
point.  To  be  stigmatized  with  having  smarted  un- 
der the  lash  at  the  halbert ;  to  be  twitted  with  so  in- 
famous an  ignominy,  which  was  either  wholly  unde- 
served, or  a  grievance  which  should  never  have  been 
repeated :  I  say,  to  call  upon  and  awaken  sensations 
of  this  kind,  must  sting  even  to  madness.  But  ac- 
couple  these  words  with  the  succeeding  actions,  — 
"You  dastard,  —  you  coward!"  A  soldier  and  a 
coward  !  This  was  touching,  (with  a  witness)  "  the 
point  of  honor,  and  the  pride  of  virtue."  But  while 
these  are  as  yet  fomenting  the  passions,  and  swelling 
the  bosom,  the  attack  is  made  ;  and  probably  the  lat- 
ter words  were  reiterated  at  the  onset ;  at  least,  were 
yet  sounding  in  the  ear.  Gentlemen  of  the  jury,  for 
heaven's  sake,  let  us  put  ourselves  in  the  same  situa- 
tion !  Would  you  not  spurn  at  that  spiritless  insti- 
tution of  society,  which  should  tell  you  to  be  a  sub- 
ject at  the  expense  of  your  manhood  ? 

But  does  the  soldier  step  out  of  his  ranks  to  seek 
his  revenge  ?  Not  a  witness  pretends  it.  Did  the 


374  AMERICAN   TRIALS. 

people  come  within  the  points  of  their  bayonets,  and 
strike  on  the  muzzles  of  the  guns  ?  You  have  heard 
the  witnesses. 

Does  the  law  allow  one  member  of  the  community 
to  behave  in  this  manner  towards  his  fellow  citizen, 
and  then  bid  the  injured  party  be  calm  and  mod- 
erate ?  The  expressions  from  one  party  were  — 
"  Stand  off — stand  off!"  "  I  am  upon  my  station." 
"  If  they  molest  me  upon  my  post,  I  will  fire." 
«  By  God  I  will  fire  !"  «  Keep  off!"  These  were 
words  likely  to  produce  reflection  and  procure  peace. 
But  had  the  words  on  the  other  hand  a  similar 
tendency  ?  Consider  the  temper  prevalent  among 
all  parties  at  this  time.  Consider  the  then  situation 
of  the  soldiery  ;  and  come  to  the  heat  and  pressure 
of  the  action.  The  materials  are  laid,  the  spark  is 
raised,  the  fire  enkindles,  the  flame  rages,  the  under- 
standing is  in  wild  disorder,  all  prudence  and  true 
wisdom  are  utterly  consumed.  Does  common  sense, 
does  the  law,  expect  impossibilities  ?  Here,  to  ex- 
pect equanimity  of  temper,  would  be  as  irrational,  as 
to  expect  discretion  in  a  mad  man.  But  was  any 
thing  done  on  the  part  of  the  assailants,  similar  to 
the  conduct,  warnings,  and  declarations  of  the  prison- 
ers ?  Answer  for  yourselves,  gentlemen.  The  words, 
reiterated  all  around,  stabbed  to  the  heart ;  the  ac- 
tions of  the  assailants  tended  to  a  worse  end ;  to 
awaken  every  passion  of  which  the  human  breast  is 
susceptible.  Fear,  anger,  pride,  resentment,  revenge, 
alternately,  take  possession  of  the  whole  man.  To 
expect,  under  these  circumstances,  that  such  words 
would  assuage  the  tempest,  that  such  actions  would 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  375 

allay  the  flames  —  you  might,  as  rationally,  expect 
the  inundations  of  a  torrent  would  suppress  a  deluge, 
or  rather,  that  the  flames  of  Etna  would  extinguish  a 
conflagration  ! 

Prepare,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  now  to  attend  to 
that  species  of  law,  which  will  adapt  itself  to  this 
trial,  with  all  its  singular  and  aggravating  circum- 
stances ;  a  law  full  of  benignity,  full  of  compassion, 
replete  with  mercy. 

Mr.  Q,uincy  here  went  into  an  elaborate  examina- 
tion and  exposition  of  the  law,  applying  it  to  the 
facts,  with  explanatory  comments,  and  thus  con- 
cluded : 

Gentlemen  of  the  Jury: 

This  cause  has  taken  up  much  of  your  time,  and 
is  likely  to  take  so  much  more,  that  I  must  hasten  to 
a  close ;  indeed  I  should  not  have  troubled  you,  by 
being  thus  lengthy,  but  from  a  sense  of  duty  to  the 
prisoners ;  who,  in  some  sense,  may  be  said  to  have 
put  their  lives  into  my  hands  ;  whose  situation  is 
so  peculiar,  that  we  have  necessarily  taken  up  more 
time  than  ordinary  cases  would  require  ;  who,  under 
all  these  circumstances,  placed  a  confidence,  which  it 
was  my  duty  not  to  disappoint ;  and  which  I  have 
aimed  at  discharging  with  fidelity.  I  trust  that  you, 
gentlemen,  will  do  the  like ;  that  you  will  examine 
and  judge  with  a  becoming  temper  of  mind  ;  remem- 
bering that,  they,  who  are  under  oath  to  declare  the 
whole  truth,  think  and  act  very  differently  from  by- 
standers, who,  being  under  no  ties  of  this  kind,  take 


376  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

a  latitude  which  is  by  no  means  admissible  in  a  court 
of  law. 

I  cannot  better  close  this  cause,  than  by  desiring 
you  to  consider  well  the  genius  and  spirit  of  the  law 
which  will  be  laid  down,  and  to  govern  yourselves 
by  this  great  standard  of  truth.  To  some  purposes, 
you  may  be  said,  gentlemen,  to  be  ministers  of  jus- 
tice ;  and  "  ministers,"  says  a  learned  judge,  "  ap- 
pointed for  the  ends  of  public  justice,  should  have 
written  on  their  hearts  the  solemn  engagements  of 
his  majesty,  at  his  coronation,  to  cause  law  and  jus- 
tice in  mercy  to  be  executed  in  all  his  judgments." 

"  The  quality  of  mercy  is  not  strained  ; 

It  droppeth  like  the  gentle  rain  from  heaven 

It  is  twice  blessed  ; 

It  blesses  him  that  gives,  and  him  that  takes." 

I  leave  you,  gentlemen,  hoping  you  will  be  direct- 
ed in  your  inquiry  and  judgment  to  a  right  discharge 
of  your  duty.  We  shall  all  of  us,  gentlemen,  have 
an  hour  of  cool  reflection,  when  the  feelings  and 
agitations  of  the  day  shall  have  subsided  ;  when 
we  shall  view  things  through  a  different  and  a  much 
juster  medium.  It  is  then  that  we  all  wish  an  ab- 
solving conscience..  May  you,  gentlemen,  now  act 
such  a  part,  as  will  hereafter  insure  it ;  such  a  part 
as  may  occasion  the  prisoners  to  rejoice.  May  the 
blessing  of  those,  who  were  in  jeopardy  of  life, 
come  upon  you  :  may  the  blessing  of  him,  who  is  not 
faulty  to  die,  descend  and  rest  upon  you  and  your 
posterity. 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  377 


JOHN    ADAMS. 
May  it  please  your  Honors,  and  you,  Gentlemen  of  the  Jury. 

I  am  for  the  prisoners  at  the  bar,  and  shall  apolo- 
gize for  it  only  in  the  words  of  the  Marquis  Beccaria : 
"  If  I  can  but  be  the  instrument  of  preserving  one 
life,  his  blessing  and  tears  of  transport  shall  be  a 
sufficient  consolation  to  me,  for  the  contempt  of  all 
mankind."  As  the  prisoners  stand  before  you  for 
their  lives,  it  may  be  proper  to  recollect  with  what 
temper  the  law  requires  we  should  proceed  to  this 
trial.  The  form  of  proceeding  at  their  arraignment 
has  discovered,  that  the  spirit  of  the  law  upon  such 
occasions,  is  conformable  to  humanity,  to  common 
sense  and  feeling  ;  that  it  is  all  benignity  and  can- 
dor. And  the  trial  commences  with  the  prayer  of 
the  court,  expressed  by  the  clerk,  to  the  supreme 
judge  of  judges,  empires,  and  worlds :  u  God  send 
you  a  good  deliverance." 

We  find,  in  the  rules  laid  down  by  the  greatest 
English  judges,  who  have  been  the  brightest  of  man- 
kind, that  we  are  to  look  upon  it  as  more  beneficial, 
that  many  guilty  persons  should  escape  unpunished, 
than  that  one  innocent  person  should  suffer.  The 
reason  is,  because  it  is  of  more  importance  to  the 
community,  that  innocence  should  be  protected,  than 
it  is,  that  guilt  should  be  punished  ;  for  guilt  and 
crimes  are  so  frequent  in  the  world,  that  all  of  them 
cannot  be  punished  ;  and  many  times  they  happen 
in  such  a  manner,  that  it  is  not  of  much  consequence 
to  the  public,  whether  they  are  punished  or  not. 
32* 


378  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

But  when  innocence  itself  is  brought  to  the  bar  and 
condemned,  especially  to  die,  the  subject  will  ex- 
claim, it  is  immaterial  to  me  whether  I  behave  well 
or  ill,  for  virtue  itself  is  no  security.  And  if  such  a 
sentiment  as  this  should  take  place  in  the  mind  of 
the  subject,  there  would  be  an  end  to  all  security 
whatsoever.  I  will  read  the  words  of  the  law  itself. 

The  rules  I  shall  produce  to  you  are  from  Lord  Chief 
Justice  Hale,  whose  character  as  a  lawyer,  as  a  man 
of  learning  and  philosophy,  and  as  a  Christian,  will  be 
disputed  by  nobody  living ;  one  of  the  greatest  and 
best  characters  the  English  nation  ever  produced, 
his  words  are  these :  Tutius  semper  est  errare  in 
acquietando,  quam  in  puniendo,  ex  parte  misericordia, 
quam  ex  parte  justitia  ;  it  is  always  safer  to  err  in 
acquitting  than  punishing,  on  the  part  of  mercy  than 
the  part  of  justice.  The  next  is  from  the  same  au- 
thority :  Tutius  erratur  ex  parte  mitiori ;  it  is  always 
safer  to  err  on  the  milder  side,  the  side  of  mercy  ;  the 
best  rule  in  doubtful  cases,  is,  rather  to  incline  to 
acquittal  than  conviction.  Quod  dubitas  ne  feceris ; 
where  you  are  doubtful  never  act;  that  is,  if  you 
doubt  of  the  prisoner's  guilt,  never  declare  him 
guilty ;  this  is  always  the  rule,  especially  in  cases  of 
life.  Another  rule  from  the  same  author  is,  that  in 
some  cases  presumptive  evidence  goes  so  far  as  to  prove 
a  person  guilty,  though  there  is  no  express  proof  of 
the  fact  to  have  been  committed  by  him  ;  but  then  it 
must  be  very  warily  pressed,  for  it  is  better  five  guilty 
persons  should  escape  unpunished,  than  that  one 
innocent  person  should  die. 

The  next  authority  shall  be  from  another  judge,  of 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  379 

equal  character,  considering  the  age  wherein  he  lived ; 
that  is  Chancellor  Fortescue,  writing  in  praise  of  the 
laws  of  England.  This  is  a  very  ancient  writer  on 
the  English  law.  His  words  are :  "  Indeed  one  would 
rather,  much  rather,  that  twenty  guilty  persons  escape 
the  punishment  of  death,  than  one  innocent  person 
be  condemned,  and  suffer  capitally."  Lord  Chief 
Justice  Hale  says,  it  is  better  that  five  guilty  persons 
escape,  than  one  innocent  person  suffer.  Lord  Chan- 
cellor Fortescue,  you  see,  carries  the  matter  farther, 
and  says,  indeed  one  had  rather,  much  rather,  that 
twenty  guilty  persons  should  escape,  than  one  inno- 
cent person  suffer  capitally.  Indeed,  this  rule  is  not 
peculiar  to  the  English  law  ;  there  never  was  a  system 
of  laws  in  the  world,  in  which  this  rule  did  not  pre- 
vail ;  it  prevailed  in  the  ancient  Roman  law,  and, 
which  is  more  remarkable,  it  prevails  in  the  modern 
Roman  law  ;  even  the  judges  in  the  courts  of  inqui- 
sition, who,  with  racks,  burnings  and  scourges,  exam- 
ine criminals,  even  there,  they  preserve  it  as  a  maxim, 
that  it  is  better  the  guilty  should  escape  punishment 
than  the  innocent  suffer  :  Satins  esse  nocentem  absolvi 
quam  insentem  damnari.  This  is  the  temper  we  ought 
to  set  out  with,  and  these  the  rules  we  are  to  be  gov- 
erned by.  And  I  shall  take  it  for  granted,  as  a  first 
principle,  that  the  eight  prisoners  at  the  bar  had 
better  be  all  acquitted,  though  we  should  admit  them 
all  to  be  guilty,  than  that  any  one  of  them  should  by 
your  verdict  be  found  guilty,  being  innocent. 

I  shall  now  consider  the  several  divisions  of  law, 
under  which  the  evidence  will  arrange  itself. 

The  act  now  before   you   is  homicide,    that   is, 


380  AMERICAN    TRIALS 

the  killing  of  one  man  by  another ;  the  law  calls  it 
homicide,  but  it  is  not  criminal  in  all  cases  for  one 
man  to  slay  another.  Had  the  prisoners  been  on  the 
plains  of  Abraham,  and  slain  an  hundred  French- 
men apiece,  the  English  law  would  have  considered 
it  as  a  commendable  action,  virtuous  and  praise- 
worthy ;  so  that  every  instance  of  killing  a  man  is 
not  a  crime  in  the  eye  of  the  law. 

The  law  divides  homicide  into  three  branches : 
the  first  is  justifiable,  the  second  excusable,  and  the 
third  felonious.  Felonious  homicide  is  subdivided 
into  two  branches ;  the  first  is  murder,  which  is  kill- 
ing with  malice  aforethought,  the  second  is  man- 
slaughter, which  is  killing  a  man  on  a  sudden  provo- 
cation. Here,  gentlemen,  are  four  sorts  of  homicide, 
and  you  are  to  consider,  whether  all  the  evidence 
amounts  to  the  first,  second,  third,  or  fourth,  of  these 
heads.  The  fact,  was  the  slaying  of  five  unhappy 
persons  that  night ;  you  are  to  consider,  whether  it 
was  justifiable,  excusable,  or  felonious  ;  and,  if  feloni- 
ous, whether  it  was  murder  or  manslaughter.'  One  of 
these  four  it  must  be ;  you  need  not  divide  your 
attention  to  any  more  particulars.  I  shall,  however, 
before  I  come  to  the  evidence,  show  you  several  au- 
thorities which  will  assist  you  and  me  in  contem- 
plating the  evidence  before  us. 

I  shall  begin  with  justifiable  homicide.  If  an  offi- 
cer, a  sheriff,  execute  a  man  on  the  gallows,  draws 
and  quarters  him,  as  in  case  of  high  treason,  and 
cuts  off  his  head,  this  is  justifiable  homicide  :  it  is  his 
duty.  So  also,  gentlemen,  the  law  has  planted  fences 
and  barriers  around  every  individual ;  it  is  a  castle 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  381 

round  every  man's  person,  as  well  as  his  house.  As 
the  love  of  God  and  our  neighbor  comprehends  the 
whole  duty  of  man,  so  self-love  and  social  compre- 
hend all  the  duties  we  owe  to  mankind,  and  the  first 
branch  is  self-love,  which  is  not  only  our  indisputable 
right,  but  our  clearest  duty  ;  by  the  laws  of  nature, 
this  is  interwoven  in  the  heart  of  every  individual ; 
God  Almighty,  whose  laws  we  cannot  alter,  has  im- 
planted it  there,  and  we  can  annihilate  ourselves,  as 
easily  as  root  out  this  affection  for  ourselves.  It  is 
the  first  and  strongest  principle  in  our  nature  ;  Black- 
stone  calls  it  "  the  primary  canon  in  the  law  of  na- 
ture." That  precept  of  our  holy  religion,  which  com- 
mands us  to  love  our  neighbor  as  ourselves,  doth  not 
command  us  to  love  our  neighbor  better  than  our- 
selves, or  so  well ;  no  Christian  divine  hath  given  this 
interpretation.  The  precept  enjoins,  that  our  benev- 
olence to  our  fellow  men  should  be  as  real  and 
sincere  as  our  affections  to  ourselves,  not  that  it 
should  be  as  great  in  degree.  A  man  is  authorized, 
therefore,  by  common  sense,  and  the  laws  of  Eng- 
land, as  well  as  those  of  nature,  to  love  himself  bet- 
ter than  his  fellow  subject ;  if  two  persons  are  cast 
away  at  sea,  and  get  on  a  plank,  (a  case  put  by  Sir 
Francis  Bacon,)  and  the  plank  is  insufficient  to  hold 
them  both,  the  one  hath  a  right  to  push  the  other  off 
to  save  himself.  The  rules  of  the  common  law, 
therefore,  which  authorize  a  man  to  preserve  his  own 
life  at  the  expense  of  another's,  are  not  contradicted 
by  any  divine  or  moral  law.  We  talk  of  liberty  and 
property,  but,  if  we  cut  'ip  the  law  of  self-defence, 
we  cut  up  the  foundation  of  both,  and  if  we  give  up 


382  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

this,  the  rest  is  of  very  little  value ;  and,  therefore, 
this  principle  must  be  strictly  attended  to,  for  what- 
soever the  law  pronounces  in  the  case  of  these  eight 
soldiers  will  be  the  law  to  other  persons  and  after 
ages.  It  would  have  been  better  if  all  the  persons 
that  have  slain  mankind  in  this  country,  from  the 
beginning  to  this  day,  had  been  acquitted,  than  that 
a  wrong  rule  and  precedent  should  be  established. 

I  shall  now  read  to  you  a  few  authorities  on  this 
subject  of  self-defence.  Foster,  in  his  Crown  Law, 
says,  in  the  case  of  justifiable  self-defence,  the  injured 
party  may  repel  force  with  force,  in  defence  of  his 
person,  habitation,  or  property,  against  one  who  man- 
ifestly intendeth  and  endeavoreth,  with  violence  or 
surprise,  to  commit  a  known  felony  upon  either.  In 
these  cases,  he  is  not  obliged  to  retreat,  but  may  pur- 
sue his  adversary,  till  he  findeth  himself  out  of  dan- 
ger, and  if  in  a  conflict  between  them  he  happeneth 
to  kill,  such  killing  is  justifiable.  The  injured  per- 
son may  repel  force  by  force  against  any  who  endea- 
vor to  commit  any  kind  of  felony  on  him  or  his ; 
here  the  rule  is,  I  have  a  right  to  stand  on  my  own 
defence,  if  you  intend  to  commit  felony.  If  any  of 
the  persons  made  an  attack  on  these  soldiers,  with 
an  intention  to  rob  them,  if  it  was  but  to  take  their 
hats  feloniously,  they  had  a  right  to  kill  them  on  the 
spot,  and  had  no  business  to  retreat ;  if  a  robber 
meets  me  in  the  street,  and  commands  me  to  surren- 
der my  purse,  I  have  a  right  to  kill  him  without  ask- 
ing questions  ;  if  a  person  commits  a  bare  assault 
on  me,  this  will  not  justify  killing ;  but  if  he  assaults 
me  in  such  a  manner  as  to  discover  an  intention  to 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  383 

kill  me,  I  have  a  right  to  destroy  him,  that  I  may  put 
it  out  of  his  power  to  kill  me.  In  the  case  you  will 
have  to  consider,  I  do  not  know  that  there  was  any 
attempt  to  steal  from  these  persons ;  however,  there 
were  some  persons  concerned,  who  would  probably 
enough  have  stolen,  if  there  had  been  any  thing  to 
steal ;  and  many  were  there  who  had  no  such  dispo- 
sition ;  but  this  is  not  the  point  we  aim  at,  the  ques- 
tion is,  are  you  satisfied  that  the  people  made  the 
attack  in  order  to  kill  the  soldiers  ?  If  you  are  satis- 
fied that  the  people,  whoever  they  were,  made  that 
assault,  with  a  design  to  kill  or  maim  the  soldiers, 
this  was  such  an  assault,  as  will  justify  the  soldiers 
killing  in  their  own  defence. 

Further,  it  seems  to  me  we  may  make  another 
question,  whether  you  are  satisfied  that  their  real 
intention  was  to  kill  or  maim  or  not.  If  any  reason- 
able man,  in  the  situation  of  one  of  these  soldiers, 
would  have  had  reason  to  believe  in  the  time  of  it, 
that  the  people  came  with  an  intention  to  kill  him, 
whether  you  have  this  satisfaction  now,  or  not,  in 
your  own  minds,  they  were  justifiable,  or  at  least  ex- 
cusable, in  firing.  You  and  I  may  be  suspicious,  that 
the  people  who  made  this  assault  on  the  soldiers,  did 
it  to  put  them  to  flight,  on  purpose  that  they  might  go 
exulting  about  the  town  afterwards  in  triumph  ;  but 
this  will  not  do,  you  must  place  yourselves  in  the 
situation  of  Wemms  or  Killroy,  consider  yourselves 
as  knowing  that  the  prejudices  of  the  world  about 
you  were  against  you ;  that  the  people  about  you, 
thought  you  came  to  dragoon  them  into  obedience 
to  statutes,  instructions,  mandates  and  edicts,  which 


384  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

they  thoroughly  detested  ;  that  many  of  these  people 
were  thoughtless  and  inconsiderate,  old  and  young, 
sailors  and  landmen,  negroes  and  mulattos ;  that  the 
soldiers  had  no  friends  about  them,  the  rest  were  in 
opposition  to  them ;  with  all  the  bells  ringing,  to  call 
the  town  together  to  assist  the  people  in  King  street, 
for  they  knew  by  that  time,  that  there  was  no  fire ; 
the  people  shouting,  huzzaing,  and  making  the  mob 
whistle,  as  they  call  it,  which,  when  a  boy  makes  it 
in  the  street,  is  no  formidable  thing,  but  when  made 
by  a  multitude,  is  a  most  hideous  shriek,  almost  as 
terrible  as  an  Indian  yell ;  the  people  crying  "  kill 
them,"  "  kill  them,"  "  knock  them  over  !  "  heaving 
snow  balls,  oyster  shells,  clubs,  white  birch  sticks 
three  inches  and  an  half  in  diameter.  Consider  your- 
selves in  this  situation,  and  then  judge  whether  a 
reasonable  man  in  the  soldiers'  situation,  would  not 
have  concluded  they  were  going  to  kill  him.  I  be- 
lieve, if  I  were  to  reverse  the  scene,  I  should  bring  it 
home  to  our  own  bosoms ;  suppose  Colonel  Mar- 
shall, when  he  came  out  of  his  own  door,  and  saw 
these  grenadiers  coming  down  with  swords,  had 
thought  it  proper  to  have  appointed  a  military  watch ; 
suppose  he  had  assembled  Gray  and  Attucks  that 
were  killed,  or  any  other  persons  in  town,  and  had 
planted  them  in  that  station  as  a  military  watch,  and 
there  had  come  from  Murray's  barracks  thirty  or  forty 
soldiers,  with  no  other  arms  than  snow  balls,  cakes 
of  ice,  oyster  shells,  cinders  and  clubs,  and  attacked 
this  military  watch  in  this  manner,  what  do  you  sup- 
pose would  have  been  the  feelings  and  reasonings  of 
any  of  our  householders  ?  I  confess  I  believe  they 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  385 

would  not  have  borne  the  one  half  of  what  the  wit- 
nesses have  sworn  the  soldiers  bore,  till  they  had 
shot  down  as  many  as  were  necessary  to  intimidate 
and  disperse  the  rest;  because,  the  law  does  not 
oblige  us  to  bear  insults  to  the  danger  of  our  lives,  to 
stand  still  with  such  a  number  of  people  round  us, 
throwing  such  things  at  us,  and  threatening  our  lives, 
until  we  are  disabled  to  defend  ourselves. 

In  the  case  before  you,  I  suppose  you  will  be  satis- 
fied when  you  come  to  examine  the  witnesses,  and 
compare  it  with  the  rules  of  common  law,  abstracted 
from  all  mutiny  acts  and  articles  of  war,  that  these 
soldiers  were  in  such  a  situation,  that  they  could  not 
help  themselves ;  people  were  coming  from  Royal 
Exchange  lane,  and  other  parts  of  the  town,  with 
clubs,  and  cord-wood  sticks  ;  the  soldiers  were  plant- 
ed by  the  wall  of  the  custom  house  ;  they  could  not 
retreat,  they  were  surrounded  on  all  sides,  for  there 
were  people  behind  them  as  well  as  before  them ; 
there  were  a  number  of  people  in  Royal  Exchange 
lane ;  the  soldiers  were  so  near  to  the  custom  house, 
that  they  could  not  retreat,  unless  they  had  gone  into 
the  brick  wall  of  it.  I  shall  show  you  presently,  that 
all  the  party  concerned  in  this  unlawful  design,  were 
guilty  of  what  any  one  of  them  did  ;  if  any  body 
threw  a  snow  ball,  it  was  the  act  of  the  whole  party ; 
if  any  struck  with  a  club,  or  threw  a  club,  and  the 
club  had  killed  any  body,  the  whole  party  would 
have  been  guilty  of  murder  in  law. 

Rules  of  law  should  be  universally  known,  what- 
ever effect  they  may  have  on  politics.  They  are 
rules  of  common  law,  the  law  of  the  land ;  and  it  is 
33 


386  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

certainly  true,  that,  wherever  there  is  an  unlawful  as- 
sembly, let  it  consist  of  many  persons  or  a  few,  every 
man  in  it  is  guilty  of  every  unlawful  act  committed 
by  any  one  of  the  whole  party,  be  they  more  or  be 
they  less,  in  pursuance  of  their  unlawful  design. 
This  is  the  policy  of  the  law,  to  discourage  and  pre- 
vent riots,  insurrections,  turbulence  and  tumults. 

In  the  continual  vicissitudes  of  human  things, 
amidst  the  shocks  of  fortune  and  the  whirls  of  pas- 
sion, that  take  place  at  certain  critical  seasons,  even 
in  the  mildest  government,  the  people  are  liable  to 
run  into  riots  and  tumults.  There  are  church  quakes 
and  state  quakes,  in  the  moral  and  political  world,  as 
well  as  earthquakes,  storms  and  tempests,  in  the 
physical.  Thus  much  however  must  be  said  in  favor 
of  the  people  and  of  human  nature,  that  it  is  a  gen- 
eral if  not  an  universal  truth,  that  the  aptitude  of  the 
people  to  mutinies,  seditions,  tumults  and  insurrec- 
tions, is  in  direct  proportion  to  the  despotism  of  the 
government.  In  governments  completely  despotic, 
where  the  will  of  one  man  is  the  only  law,  this  dis- 
position is  most  prevalent ;  in  aristocracies,  next ;  in 
mixed  monarchies,  less  than  in  either  of  the  former ; 
in  complete  republics,  least  of  all ;  and,  under  the 
same  form  of  government  as  in  a  limited  monarchy, 
for  example,  the  virtue  and  wisdom  of  the  adminis- 
tration may  generally  be  measured  by  the  peace  and 
order  that  are  seen  among  the  people.  However  this 
may  be,  such  is  the  imperfection  of  all  things  in  this 
world,  that  no  form  of  government,  and  perhaps  no 
wisdom  or  virtue  in  the  administration,  can  at  all 
times  avoid  riots  and  disorders  among  the  people. 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  387 

Mr.  Adams  here  went  into  a  learned  and  elaborate 
examination  of  the  law  applicable  to  the  facts  of  the 
case.  He  insisted,  that,  by  well  established  princi- 
ples of  the  law,  in  case  of  an  unlawful  assembly,  all 
and  every  one  of  the  assembly  are  guilty  of  every  un- 
lawful act,  committed  by  any  one  of  that  assembly, 
in  prosecution  of  the  unlawful  design  ;  and,  upon  this 
point,  he  made  copious  extracts  from  celebrated  wri- 
ters on  criminal  law.  He  then  contended,  that  the 
assemblies  of  citizens  in  the  various  parts  of  the  town 
on  the  evening  referred  to  were  unlawful  assem- 
blies—  they  were  mobs.  "  I  do  not  mean,"  he  said, 
"  to  apply  the  word  '  rebel '  on  this  occasion.  I 
have  no  reason  to  suppose  that  there  ever  was  one  in 
Boston,  at  least  among  the  natives  of  the  country. 
But  rioters  are  in  the  same  situation,  as  far  as  my 
argument  is  concerned,  and  proper  officers  may  sup- 
press rioters,  and  so  may  even  private  persons."  Mr. 
Adams  being  fully  aware  of  the  feeling  against  the 
defendants,  because  they  were  soldiers,  did  not  place 
their  defence  on  the  sole  ground  that  they  were  acting 
in  obedience  to  orders  ;  but  he  considered  them  as  citi- 
zens who  were  entitled  to  the  protection  of  the  laws 
as  much  as  any  other  citizens.  He  then  argued, 
that  the  sentry  being  attacked  in  the  street  by  a 
mob,  any  persons  had  a  right  to  go  to  his  assistance, 
and  endeavor  to  suppress  the  riot.  "  Suppose,"  he 
said,  "a  press-gang  should  come  on  shore  in  this 
town,  and  assault  any  sailor,  or  householder  in  King 
street,  in  order  to  carry  them  on  board  one  of  his 
majesty's  ships,  and  impress  him  without  any  war- 
rant, as  a  seaman  in  his  majesty's  service,  how  far 


388  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

do  you  suppose  the  inhabitants  would  think  them- 
selves warranted  by  law  to  interpose  against  that  law- 
less press-gang?  I  agree  that  such  a  press-gang 
would  be  as  unlawful  an  assembly  as  that  was  in 
King  street.  If  they  were  to  press  an  inhabitant, 
and  carry  him  off  for  a  sailor,  would  not  the  inhabit- 
ants think  themselves  warranted  by  law  to  interpose 
in  behalf  of  their  fellow  citizens  ?  Now,  gentlemen, 
if  the  soldiers  had  no  right  to  interpose  in  the  relief 
of  the  sentry,  the  inhabitants  would  have  no  right 
to  interpose  with  regard  to  the  citizen,  for  whatever 
is  law  for  a  soldier  is  law  for  a  sailor  and  for  a  citi- 
zen, they  all  stand  upon  an  equal  footing  in  this  re- 
spect. I  believe  we  shall  not  have  it  disputed,  that 
it  would  be  lawful  to  go  into  King  street  and  help  an 
honest  man  there  against  the  press-master.1 

1  There  was  more  meaning  in  this  allusion  to  a  press-gang  than 
apparent  at  first  sight.  The  case  of  the  crew  on  board  the  Pitt 
Packet  was  still  fresh  in  the  recollection  of  the  people  and  there 
had  recently  been  several  instances  of  impressment  in  Boston,  un- 
der aggravated  circumstances.  Cases  of  this  sort  had  also  occurred 
many  years  before,  which  were  not  forgotten.  In  the  year  1747, 
several  sailors  having  deserted  from  a  fleet  of  war  lying  in  the 
harbor  of  Nantasket,  the  commodore  thought  it  reasonable  that  Bos- 
ton should  supply  him  with  as  many  men  as  he  had  lost,  and  sent 
his  boats  up  to  town  early  one  morning,  and  impressed  not  only  as 
many  seamen  as  could  be  found  on  board  any  of  the  ships,  but 
swept  the  wharves  also,  taking  some  ship  carpenters'  apprentices 
and  laboring  land  men.  The  people  at  once  resented  this  conduct. 
The  lower  classes  in  particular  were  enraged.  A  mob  proceeded 
to  the  house  of  Governor  Shirley,  where  there  were  some  officers  of 
the  fleet,  and  surrounded  it.  They  weie  persuaded  not  to  enter, 
but  a  deputy  sheriff  who  attempted  to  exercise  his  authority  was 
seized  and  set  in  the  stocks,  when  the  people  separated  in  good 
humor  to  go  to  dinner.  In  the  evening,  the  mob  again  assembled, 
and  the  seizure  of  the  officers  in  town  was  insisted  on  as  the  only 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  389 

"  Now  suppose  you  should  have  a  jealousy  in  your 
minds,  that  the  people  who  made  this  attack  on  the 
sentry  had  nothing  more  in  their  intention  than  to 
take  him  off  his  post,  and  that  was  threatened  by 
some  ;  suppose  they  intended  to  go  a  little  farther, 
and  tar  and  feather  him,  or  to  ride  him  (as  the  phrase 
is  in  Hudibras),  he  would  have  had  a  good  right  to 
have  stood  upon  his  defence,  the  defence  of  his  lib- 
erty, and  if  he  could  not  preserve  that  without  hazard 
to  his  own  life,  he  would  be  warranted  in  depriving 
those  of  life  who  were  endeavoring  to  deprive  him 
of  his  ;  that  is  a  point  I  would  not  give  up  for  my 
right  hand,  nay,  for  my  life. 

"  Well,  I  say,  if  the  people  did  this,  or  if  this  was 
only  their  intention,  surely  the  officer  and  soldiers 
had  a  right  to  go  to  his  relief,  and  therefore  they  set 
out  upon  a  lawful  errand,  they  were  therefore  a  law- 
ful assembly,  if  we  only  consider  them  as  private 
subjects  and  fellow  citizens,  without  regard  to  mutiny 
acts,  articles  of  war,  or  soldiers'  oaths  ;  a  private  per- 
son, or  any  number  of  private  persons,  have  a  right 
to  go  to  the  assistance  of  their  fellow  subject  in  dis- 
tress and  danger  of  his  life,  when  assaulted  and  in 
danger  from  a  few  or  a  multitude." 

It  was  not  pretended  that  all  who  were  killed  were 
engaged  in  the  assault  on  the  sDldiers,  but  he  insist- 

effectual  method  of  procuring  the  release  of  the  inhabitants  aboard 
the  ships.  A  town  meeting  was  soon  called,  and  the  riotous  pro- 
ceedings were  condemned,  but  the  inhabitants  expressed  their  sense 
of  the  great  insult  and  injury  by  the  impressment.  The  general  court 
passed  sundry  resolves.  The  commodore  soon  released  most  if  not 
all  of  the  inhabitants  who  had  been  impressed,  and  the  squadron 
sailed. 

33» 


390  AMERICAN   TRIALS. 

ed,  that,  if  the  soldiers  fired  in  self-defence  against 
those  who  were  actually  assaulting  them,  and  others 
were  killed,  they  were  not  guilty  of  murder ;  for  if  it 
was  justifiable  or  excusable  in  them  to  kill  any  one  of 
the  rioters,  it  was  equally  justifiable  or  excusable,  if 
in  firing  at  him  they  killed  another  who  was  inno- 
cent. So  if  the  provocation  was  such  as  to  mitigate 
the  guilt  to  manslaughter,  it  would  equally  mitigate 
the  guilt,  if  they  killed  an  innocent  man  undesign- 
edly,  in  aiming  at  those  who  gave  the  provocation. 

Mr.  Adams  then  entered  into  an  exposition  of  the 
law  relating  to  manslaughter,  contending  that  if  the 
killing  in  this  case  were  not  justifiable  or  excusable. 
it  was  done  under  such  circumstances  as  reduced 
the  offence  to  manslaughter.  "  An  assault  and  bat- 
tery, committed  upon  a  man  in  such  a  manner  as  not 
to  endanger  his  life,  is  such  a  provocation  as  the  law 
allows  to  reduce  killing  down  to  the  crime  of  man- 
slaughter. Now  the  law  has  been  made  on  more 
consideration  than  we  are  capable  of  making  at  pres- 
ent ;  the  law  considers  a  man  as  capable  of  bearing 
any  thing  and  every  thing  but  blows.  I  may  re- 
proach a  man  as  much  as  I  please,  I  may  call  him 
a  thief,  robber,  traitor,  scoundrel,  coward,  lobster, 
bloody  back,  and  if  he  kills  me  it  will  be  murder,  if 
nothing  else  but  words  precede  ;  but  if  from  giving 
him  such  kind  of  language,  I  proceed  to  take  him  by 
the  nose,  or  fillip  him  on  the  forehead,  that  is  an  as- 
sault, that  is  a  blow  ;  the  law  will  not  oblige  a  man 
to  stand  still  and  bear  it ;  there  is  the  distinction  ; 
hands  off,  touch  me  not ;  as  soon  as  you  touch  me, 
if  I  run  you  through  the  heart  it  is  but  manslaughter ; 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  391 

the  utility  of  this  distinction,  the  more  you  think  of 
it,  the  more  you  will  be  satisfied  with  it ;  it  is  an  as- 
sault whenever  a  blow  is  struck,  let  it  be  ever  so 
slight,  and  sometimes  even  without  a  blow.  The 
law  considers  man  as  frail  and  passionate ;  when  his 
passions  are  touched  he  will  be  thrown  off  his  guard  ; 
and  therefore  the  law  makes  allowances  for  this  frailty, 
considers  him  as  in  a  fit  of  passion,  not  having  the 
possession  of  his  intellectual  faculties ;  and  conse- 
quently does  not  oblige  him  to  measure  out  his  blows 
with  a  yardstick,  or  weigh  them  in  a  scale  ;  let  him 
kill  with  a  sword,  gun,  or  hedge-stake,  it  is  not  mur- 
der, but  only  manslaughter." 

Mr.  Adams  proceeded  to  a  minute  consideration 
of  every  witness  in  the  case,  and  endeavored  to  show, 
that  the  assault  upon  the  soldiers  was  sufficiently  dan- 
gerous to  justify  them  in  the  course  they  took ;  at 
least,  that  it  was  sufficiently  provoking  to  reduce  the 
crime  to  manslaughter.  The  soldiers  were  chained 
to  the  spot  by  the  command  of  their  officer.  They 
were  bound  by  their  oath  to  obedience.  They  could 
not  defend  themselves  against  so  many  people  as 
were  pressing  on  them.  They  had  every  reason  to 
believe  their  lives  were  in  danger.  They  were  a 
lawful  assembly,  and  the  people  attacking  them 
were,  by  every  principle  of  law,  a  mob.  "  We  have 
been  entertained,"  he  exclaimed,  "  with  a  great  va- 
riety of  phrases,  to  avoid  calling  this  sort  of  people  a 
mob.  Some  call  them  shavers,  some  call  them  gen- 
iuses. The  plain  English  is,  gentlemen,  most  proba- 
bly, a  motley  rabble  of  saucy  boys,  negroes,  and  mu- 
lattoes,  Irish  teagues  and  outlandish  jack  tars.  And 


392  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

why  we  should  scruple  to  call  such  a  set  of  people  a 
mob,  I  cannot  conceive,  unless  the  name  is  too  re- 
spectable for  them.  The  sun  is  not  about  to  stand 
still  or  go  out,  nor  the  rivers  to  dry  up,  because  there 
was  a  mob  in  Boston  on  the  fifth  of  March  that 
attacked  a  party  of  soldiers.  Such  things  are  not 
new  in  the  world,  nor  in  the  British  dominions, 
though  they  are,  comparatively,  rarities  aijd  novelties 
in  this  town.  Carr,  a  native  of  Ireland,  had  often 
been  concerned  in  such  attacks,  and,  indeed,  from 
the  nature  of  things,  soldiers  quartered  in  a  populous 
town,  will  always  occasion  two  mobs,  where  they 
prevent  one.  They  are  wretched  conservators  of  the 
peace ! " 

But  in  regard  to  all  but  two  of  the  prisoners  there 
was  no  evidence  to  convict  them  even  of  manslaugh- 
ter, because  there  was  no  direct  proof  that  any  but 
Killroy  and  Montgomery  caused  the  death  of  any 
one.  There  were  eight  prisoners  charged  with  the 
murder  of  five  persons.  Now  it  was  fully  proved, 
that  one  of  the  prisoners  did  not  fire,  and  the  gun  of 
another  flashed.  Two,  at  least,  of  the  prisoners 
were  innocent,  and  one  of  these  was  not  known.  In 
this  uncertainty,  therefore,  the  jury  must  acquit  all, 
unless  there  was  positive  proof  that  some  of  the  rest 
did  fire  and  did  cause  the  death  of  some  who  were 
killed.  It  was  said  that  there  was  evidence  of  this 
sort  against  Killroy  and  Montgomery  ;  arid  proof  was 
introduced  to  show  that  the  former  had  uttered 
threats  against  the  people,  and  that  he  had  a  particu- 
lar spite  against  Gray,  whom  he  was  supposed  to 
have  killed,  the  latter  having  been  engaged  with  him 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  393 

in  the  previous  affray  at  the  ropewalks.  But  the 
rule  of  law  was,  if  there  had  been  malice  between 
the  two,  and  at  a  distance  of  time  afterwards  they 
met,  and  one  of  them  assaulted  the  other  and  was 
killed  in  consequence,  the  law  presumed  that  the 
killing  was  upon  the  provocation,  and  not  on  account 
of  the  antecedent  malice.  If,  therefore,  the  assault 
upon  Killroy  was  so  violent  as  to  endanger  his  life, 
he  had  as  good  a  right  to  defend  himself,  as  if  he 
had  never  before  conceived  any  malice  against  Gray. 
It  was  true  that  Hemmingway,  the  sheriff's  coach- 
man, had  sworn,  that  he  knew  Killroy  and  that  he 
heard  him  say,  he  would  never  miss  an  opportunity 
of  firing  upon  the  inhabitants ;  this  was  to  prove 
that  Killroy  had  preconceived  malice  in  his  hea  t, 
not  indeed  against  the  unhappy  persons  who  were 
killed,  but  against  the  inhabitants  in  general ;  that 
he  had  the  spirit  not  only  of  a  Turk  or  an  Arab,  but 
of  the  devil.  But  admitting  that  this  testimony  was 
literally  true,  and  that  he  had  all  the  malice  they 
would  wish  to  prove,  yet,  if  he  was  assaulted  that 
night,  and  his  life  in  danger,  he  had  a  right  to  defend 
himself  as  well  as  another  man ;  if  he  had  malice 
before,  it  did  not  take  away  from  him  the  right  of 
defending  himself  against  any  aggressor.  But  it  was 
not  at  all  improbable,  that  there  was  some  misunder- 
standing about  these  loose  expressions  ;  perhaps  the 
man  had  no  thoughts  of  what  his  words  might  im- 
port ;  many  a  man  in  his  cups,  or  in  anger,  which 
was  a  short  fit  of  madness,  uttered  the  rashest  ex- 
pressions, who  had  no  such  savage  disposition  in 
general ;  so  that  there  was  but  little  weight  in  ex- 


394  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

pressions  uttered  at  a  kitchen  fire,  before  a  maid  and 
a  coachman,  where  he  might  think  himself  at  liberty 
to  talk  as  much  like  a  bully,  a  fool,  or  a  madman  as 
he  pleased,  and  that  no  evil  would  come  of  it. 

In  regard  to  Montgomery,  the  evidence  was  clear 
that  he  was  personally  assaulted  and  knocked  down 
before  he  fired.  When  the  multitude  was  shouting 
and  huzzaing,  and  threatening  life,  the  bells  ringing, 
the  mob  whistling,  screaming,  and  rending  like  an  In- 
dian yell ;  the  people  from  all  quarters  throwing  every 
species  of  rubbish  they  could  pick  up  in  the  street, 
and  some  who  were  quite  on  the  other  side  of  the 
street  throwing  clubs  at  the  whole  party  ;  Montgom- 
ery in  particular  smitten  with  a  club  and  knocked 
down,  and  as  soon  as  he  could  rise  and  take  up  his 
firelock,  struck  on  his  breast  or  shoulder  by  another 
club  from  afar,  what  could  he  do  ?  Did  the  jury  ex- 
pect he  should  behave  like  a  stoic  philosopher  lost  in 
apathy  —  patient  as  Epictetus,  while  his  master  was 
breaking  his  legs  with  a  cudgel  ?  It  was  impossible 
they  should  find  him  guilty  of  murder.  They  must 
suppose  him  divested  of  all  human  passions,  if  they 
did  not  think  him  at  the  least  provoked,  thrown  off 
his  guard,  and  into  the  furor  brevis,  by  such  treat- 
ment as  this. 

Attucks,  whom  Montgomery  was  supposed  to  have 
killed,  appeared  to  have  undertaken  to  be  the  hero 
of  the  night,  and  to  lead  this  army  with  banners, 
to  form  them  in  the  first  place  in  Dock  square,  and 
march  them  up  to  King  street  with  their  clubs.  They 
passed  through  the  main  street  up  to  the  main  guard, 
in  order  to  make  the  attack.  If  this  was  not  an  un- 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  395 

lawful  assembly,  there  never  was  one  in  the  world. 
Attacks,  with  his  mirmidons,  comes  round  Jackson's 
corner,  and  down  to  the  party  by  the  sentry  box ; 
when  the  soldiers  pushed  the  people  off,  this  man 
with  his  party  cried,  "  do  not  be  afraid  of  them,  they 
dare  not  fire,  kill  them!  kill  them!  knock  them 
over !  "  —  and  he  tried  to  knock  their  brains  out.  It 
was  plain  the  soldiers  did  not  leave  their  station,  but 
cried  to  the  people,  "  stand  off."  Now  to  have  this 
reinforcement  coming  down  under  the  command  of  a 
stout  mulatto  fellow,  whose  very  looks  were  enough 
to  terrify  any  person,  what  had  not  the  soldiers  then 
to  fear  ?  He  had  hardiness  enough  to  fall  in  upon 
them,  and  with  one  hand  took  hold  of  a  bayonet,  and 
with  the  other  knocked  the  man  down.  This  was 
the  behavior  of  Attucks  ;  to  whose  mad  proceedings, 
in  all  probability,  the  dreadful  carnage  of  that  night 
was  chiefly  to  be  ascribed.  And  it  was  in  this  man- 
ner this  town  had  been  often  treated ;  a  Carr  from 
Ireland,  and  an  Attucks  from  Framingham,  happen- 
ing to  be  here,  shall  sally  out  upon  their  thoughtless 
enterprises,  at  the  head  of  such  a  rabble  of  negroes 
and  worthless  characters  as  they  can  collect  together, 
and  then  there  were  not  wanting  persons  to  ascribe 
all  their  doings  to  the  good  people  of  the  town. 

v 
Mr.  Adams  concluded  his  argument  as  follows  :  — 

Gentlemen  of  the  Jury, 

I  will  enlarge  no  more  on  the  evidence,  but  sub- 
mit it  to  you.  Facts  are  stubborn  things ;  and  what- 
ever may  be  our  wishes,  our  inclinations,  or  the 


396  AMERICAN   TRIALS. 

dictates  of  our  passions,  they  cannot  alter  the  state 
of  facts  and  evidence.  Nor  is  the  law  less  stable 
than  the  fact ;  if  an  assault  was  made  to  endanger 
their  lives,  the  law  is  clear,  they  had  a  right  to  kill  in 
their  own  defence  ;  if  it  was  not  so  severe  as  to  en- 
danger their  lives,  yet  if  they  were  assaulted  at  all, 
struck  and  abused  by  blows  of  any  sort,  by  snow 
balls,  oyster  shells,  cinders,  clubs,  or  sticks  of  any 
kind ;  this  was  a  provocation,  for  which  the  law  re- 
duces the  offence  of  killing  down  to  manslaughter,  in 
consideration  of  those  passions  in  our  nature,  which 
cannot  be  eradicated.  To  your  candor  and  justice  I 
submit  the  prisoners  and  their  cause. 

The  law,  in  all  vicissitudes  of  government,  fluctua- 
tions of  the  passions,  or  flights  of  enthusiasm,  will 
preserve  a  steady  undeviating  course  ;  it  will  not 
bend  to  the  uncertain  wishes,  imaginations,  and  wan- 
ton tempers  of  men.  To  use  the  words  of  a  great 
and  worthy  man,  a  patriot,  and  an  hero,  an  enlight- 
ened friend  of  mankind,  and  a  martyr  to  liberty ;  I 
mean  Algernon  Sidney,  who  from  his  earliest  infancy 
sought  a  tranquil  retirement  under  the  shadow  of  the 
tree  of  liberty,  with  his  tongue,  his  pen,  and  his 
sword  :  "  The  law,"  says  he,  "  no  passion  can  disturb. 
'T  is  void  of  desire  and  fear,  lust  and  anger.  'T  is 
mens  sine  affectu ;  written  reason ;  retaining  some 
measure  of  the  divine  perfection.  It  does  not  enjoin 
that  which  pleases  a  weak,  frail  man,  but  without 
any  regard  to  persons,  commands  that  which  is  good, 
and  punishes  evil  in  all,  whether  rich  or  poor,  high 
or  low,  —  'T  is  deaf,  inexorable,  inflexible."  On  the 
one  hand  it  is  inexorable  to  the  cries  and  lamentations 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  397 

of  the  prisoners ;  on  the  other  it  is  deaf,  deaf  as  an 
adder,  to  the  clamors  of  the  populace. 

The  cause  was  then  closed  by  Robert  Treat  Paine1, 
on  the  part  of  the  crown,  in  an  argument  of  great 
power  and  clearness,  of  which,  unfortunately,  no  au- 
thentic report  was  made."  It  appears,  however,  from 
his  very  copious  minutes  of  the  trial,  that  he  com- 
mented largely  on  the  testimony,  with  much  ingenu- 
ity and  wit ;  stating  the  nature  of  the  crime  of  mur- 
der, in  so  far  as  it  is  to  be  distinguised  from  man- 
slaughter or  simple  homicide  ;  and  insisting  that  the 
conduct  of  the  inhabitants  was  no  justification  for 
the  firing  of  the  soldiers,  or  any  order  of  the  captain 
for  them  to  fire ;  that  the  first  abuse  and  riot  was 
from  the  soldiers  at  an  earlier  hour,  which  called  the 
people  together  in  the  centre  of  the  town,  who,  be- 

1  He  was  born  in  Boston  in  1731,  and  was  graduated  at  Harvard 
College  in  1749.  About  the  year  1759,  he  settled  in  the  practice  of 
law  at  Taijnton.  In  1774,  he  was  chosen  a  delegate  to  ronoress, 
and  he  was  one  of  the  signers  of  the  declaration  of  independence. 
During  the  revolution  he  was  a  firm  and  powerful  >upporter  of  the 
rights  of  his  country.  He  was  a  member  of  the  convention  which 
formed  the  constitution  of  Massachusetts,  and  one  of  the  commit- 
tee that  prepared  a  draft  of  it.  He  was  attorney  general  under 
this  constitution  until  1790,  when  he  was  appointed  a  judge  of 
the  supreme  court,  and  held  the  office  until  1H03.  The  remainder 
of  his  life  he  spent  in  retirement,  and  died  at  Boston  in  1814,  aged 
eighty-three  years.  He  possessed  an  original  and  independent 
mind,  and  was  celebrated  for  his  wit.  He  was  a  profound  lawyer 
and  eminently  upright. 

*  The  reason  of  this  is  stated  to  be,  that  the  "  person  who  wrote 
the  trial  in  short  hand,  was  so  fatigued  he  could  not  take  down 
what  Mr.  Paine  said."  In  a  late  edition  of  tl.e  trial  an  attempt 
is  made  to  supply  his  argument  from  the  notes  used  by  Mr.  Paine 
on  the  trial,  but  it  is  quite  incomplete  and  unsatisfactory. 
34 


398  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

ing  thus  alarmed  and  agitated,  some  of  them,  chiefly 
boys,  addressed  the  sentinel  with  threatening  and 
abusive  language  ;  some  snow  balls  were  then  thrown, 
and  some  hustling  and  pushing,  when  the  crowd  was 
about  the  sentinel.  But  the  soldiers  were  not  in  dan- 
ger of  being  beaten  or  wounded,  as  the  citizens  de- 
signed to  act  merely  on  the  defensive,  and  therefore, 
that  the  prisoners  were  justly  chargeable  with  murder. 
The  jury  were  then  charged  at  length  by  Mr.  Jus- 
tice Trowbridge,  who  went  into  an  elaborate  exposi- 
tion of  the  law,  applicable  to  the  case,  and  con- 
cluded as  follows :  — 

Gentlemen  of  the  Jury, 

The  principal  questions  for  your  consideration  are 
these  ; 

First.  Whether  the  five  persons  said  to  be  mur- 
dered were  in  fact  killed  ?  And  if  so, 

Second.  Whether  they,  or  either  of  them  were 
killed  by  the  prisoners,  or  either  of  them  ?  And  if 
they  were,  then, 

Third.  Whether  such  killing  was  justifiable,  ex- 
cusable or  felonious  ?  And  if  the  latter, 

Fourth.    Whether  it  was  manslaughter  or  murder  ? 

As  to  the  first,  you  have  not  only  the  coroner's 
inquest,  but  the  testimony  of  so  many  witnesses,  that 
the  five  persons  were  shot  and  thereby  mortally 
wounded  in  the  night  of  the  fifth  of  March  last,  and 
that  some  of  them  died  instantly,  and  the  rest  in  a 
few  days  after,  that  you  doubtless  will  be  satisfied 
they  were  all  killed.  And  the  same  evidence  must, 
I  think,  also  convince  you  that  they  were  all  killed 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  399 

by  the  party  of  soldiers  that  were  at  the  custom 
house  that  night,  or  by  some  of  them. 

Whether  the  prisoners  were  there,  will  therefore 
be  your  next  inquiry  ;  for  if  either  of  them  was  not, 
he  must  be  acquitted.  The  law  does  not  in  this  case 
make  the  testimony  of  two  witnesses  necessary  for 
the  jury  to  settle  a  fact  upon  ;  if  one  swears  it,  and 
upon  his  testimony  you  believe  it,  that  is  sufficient 
evidence  for  you  to  find  the  fact.  But  if  you  are 
satisfied  upon  the  evidence,  that  all  the  prisoners 
were  there,  yet  as  each  prisoner  is  severally  charged 
with  having  killed  these  five  persons,  and  by  his  plea 
has  denied  the  charge,  you  must  be  fully  satisfied 
upon  the  evidence  given  you,  with  regard  to  each 
prisoner,  that  he  in  particular  did  in  fact,  or  in  con- 
sideration of  law,  kill  one  or  more  of  these  persons 
that  were  slain,  or  he  must  be  acquitted. 

The  way  therefore  to  determine  this  will  be  for 
you  to  name  some  one  of  the  prisoners,  and  then  con- 
sider whether  it  appears  upon  the  evidence  in  the 
case,  that  he  did  in  fact  kill  Maverick  ;  and,  then, 
whether  upon  the  evidence  it  appears  he  in  fact 
killed  Gray  ?  And  so  inquire  in  the  same  manner, 
whether  he  did  in  fact  kill  either  of  the  other  three 
persons?  And  having  noted  how  it  appears  upon 
the  evidence  with  regard  to  him,  you  must  then  pro- 
ceed in  like  manner  with  each  of  the  other  prisoners ; 
and  if  upon  a  full  consideration  of  the  evidence  in 
the  case,  you  should  be  in  doubt,  as  to  any  one  of 
the  prisoners  having  in  fact  killed  either  of  the  per- 
sons that  were  slain,  you  must  consider  whether  he 
did  it  in  consideration  of  law?  Now  all  that  are 


400  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

present,  aiding  and  abetting  one  person  in  killing  an- 
other, do,  in  judgment  of  law,  kill  him.  The  stroke 
of  one  is,  in  consideration  of  law,  the  stroke  of  all. 
When  a  number  of  persons  assemble  together  to  do 
an  unlawful  act,  and  in  the  prosecution  of  that  de- 
sign one  of  them  kills  a  man,  all  the  rest  of  the  com- 
pany are  in  law  considered  as  abetting  him  to  do  it. 

You  must  therefore  inquire  how  and  for  what  pur- 
pose the  prisoners  came  together  at  the  custom 
house,  and  what  they  did  there  before  these  persons 
were  killed  ? 

That  a  sentry  was  in  fact  then  placed  at  the  cus- 
tom house,  by  order  of  Colonel  Dalrymple,  the  com- 
manding officer,  as  also  that  one  had  been  placed 
there  for  a  long  time  before,  is  fully  proved,  and 
indeed  the  right  to  place  sentries,  it  being  in  time  of 
peace,  is  the  only  thing  that  has  been  questioned. 
Upon  this,  therefore,  I  would  observe,  that,  as  the 
main  design  of  society  is  the  protection  of  individu- 
als by  the  united  strength  of  the  whole  community  ; 
so  for  the  sake  of  unanimity,  strength  and  despatch, 
the  supreme  executive  power  is  by  the  British  con- 
stitution vested  in  a  single  person,  the  king  or  queen. 
This  single  person  has  sole  power  of  raising  fleets  or 
armies  ;  and  a  statute  passed  in  the  reign  of  Charles  the 
second  declares,  that  within  all  his  majesty's  realms  and 
dominions,  the  sole  supreme  government,  command, 
and  disposition  of  the  militia,  and  of  all  the  forces 
by  sea  and  land,  and  all  forts  and  places  of  strength, 
is  and  by  the  law  of  England  ever  was  the  undoubt- 
ed right  of  his  majesty  and  his  royal  predecessors, 
kings  and  queens  of  England;  and  as  Charles  the 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  401 

second  had  this  right  as  king  of  England,  it  of  course 
comes  to  his  successors,  and  our  present  sovereign 
lord  the  king  now  has  it. 

Indeed  the  bill  of  rights  declares  among  other 
things,  that  the  raising  or  keeping  a  standing  army 
within  the  kingdom  in  a  time  of  peace,  unless  with 
the  consent  of  parliament,  is  against  law.  And  it  is 
said,  that  upon  the  same  principles  whereon  that  de- 
claration was  founded,  it  is  alike  unlawful  to  be  done 
in  any  other  part  of  the  king's  dominions.  But  be 
that  as  it  may,  the  mutiny  acts  annually  made,  show 
the  consent  of  parliament,  that  the  king  in  time  of 
peace  should  keep  up  a  standing  army  not  only  in 
the  kingdom  but  in  America  also.  They  not  only 
ascertain  the  number  of  troops  that  shall  be  kept  up, 
but  provide  for  the  regulation  of  such  of  the  king's 
troops  as  are  in  America.  And  therefore  as  by  these 
acts  the  king  is  empowered  to  keep  up  these  troops, 
and  he  by  common  law,  has  the  command  and  dis- 
position of  all  forces  by  sea  and  land  within  his  do- 
minions, and  is  the  principal  conservator  of  the  peace, 
he  doubtless  well  might  send  such  part  of  those  troops 
to  this  part  of  his  dominions,  in  order  to  restore  the 
public  peace,  or  to  aid  and  assist  the  civil  magistrate 
in  preserving  of  it,  as  he  judged  necessary  for  the 
purpose  ;  and  if  you  should  think  there  was  no  occa- 
sion for  sending  any  troops  here,  for  either  of  those 
purposes  that  will  not  alter  the  case,  because  the  king 
being  the  proper  judge  in  that  matter,  the  validity  of 
his  order  will  not  depend  upon  the  truth  of  the  repre^ 
sentations  whereon  it  is  founded.  The  acts  not  only 
fix  the  number  of  troops  to  be  kept  up,  but  also 
34* 


402  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

establish  a  law  martial  for  their  government.  Among 
other  things,  the  acts  subject  every  officer  or  soldier 
that  sleeps  on  his  post,  or  leaves  it  before  he  is  re- 
lieved, or  disobeys  the  lawful  command  of  his  supe- 
rior officer,  to  such  punishment  as  a  court  martial 
shall  inflict,  though  it  extend  to  death  itself.  These 
troops  are  and  ever  since  they  came  here  have  been 
under  this  martial  law  and  subject  to  as  strict  regu- 
lation as  in  time  of  war.  Placing  sentries  is  a  neces- 
sary part  of  the  regulation  of  an  army  ;  accordingly  a 
sentry  hath  in  fact  been  kept  at  the  custom  house 
ever  since  the  troops  have  been  here  ;  and  it  is  sworn 
that  it  was  done  by  order  of  the  commanding  officer. 
If  so,  you  have  no  reason  to  doubt  but  that  it  was 
legally  done. 

Your  next  inquiry  then  will  be,  whether  the  sentry 
so  placed  at  the  custom  house  was  attacked  ?  Many 
witnesses  have  sworn  that  he  was.  But  the  counsel 
for  the  crown  say,  that  the  contrary  appears  by  the 
testimony  of  Colonel  Marshall  and  others. 

It  is  with  you  to  determine  this  matter  upon  the 
whole  of  the  evidence  given  you.  In  doing  it  you 
ought  to  reconcile  the  several  testimonies,  if  by  any 
reasonable  construction  of  the  words  it  may  be  done. 
Where  some  witnesses  swear  they  saw  such  a  thing 
done,  and  others  swear  they  were  present  and  did  not 
see  it ;  if  the  thing  said  to  be  done  be  such  as  it  may 
reasonably  be  supposed  some  might  see  and  others 
not,  by  reason  of  their  want  of  observation,  or  par- 
ticular attention  to  other  matters  there,  as  both  may 
be  true,  you  ought  to  suppose  them  to  be  so,  rather 
than  presume  that  any  of  the  witnesses  swear  falsely. 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  403 

But  if  witnesses  contradict  each  other,  so  that  their 
testimonies  cannot  be  reconciled,  you  must  then  con- 
sider the  number  of  the  witnesses  on  each  side,  their 
ability,  integrity,  indifference  as  to  the  point  in  ques- 
tion, and  the  probability  or  improbability  arising 
from  the  nature  of  the  thing  in  question,  and,  upon 
the  whole,  settle  the  fact  as  you  verily  believe  it  to 
be.  If  you  find  the  sentry  was  attacked,  the  next 
thing  to  be  considered  is,  whether  the  prisoners  went 
to  protect  him,  and  if  so,  whether  it  was  lawful  for 
them  so  to  do.  There  is  a  great  difference  between 
a  common  affray,  and  attacking  the  king's  forces.  I 
think  the  law  in  that  regard  ought  to  be  more  gen- 
erally known  here  than  it  seems  to  be.  If  upon  a 
sudden  quarrel  from  some  affront  given  or  taken,  the 
neighborhood  rise  and  drive  the  king's  forces  out  of 
their  quarters,  it  is  a  great  misdemeanor,  and  if  death 
ensues  it  may  be  felony  in  the  assailants,  but  it  is 
not  treason,  because  there  was  no  intention  against 
the  king's  person  or  government ;  but  attacking  the 
king's  forces  in  opposition  to  his  authority,  upon  a 
march  or  in  quarters,  is  levying  war  against  the  king. 
And  resisting  the  king's  forces,  if  sent  to  keep  the 
peace,  may  amount  to  an  overt  act  of  high  treason. 
Though  it  may  be  attended  with  great  inconven- 
iences for  private  persons,  without  a  peace  officer,  to 
make  use  of  arms  for  suppressing  an  ordinary  riot, 
yet  if  the  riot  be  such  an  one  as  savors  of  rebellion, 
it  doubtless  may  lawfully  be  done.  You  have  heard 
what  the  witnesses  deposed  respecting  the  resolution 
taken  to  drive  the  soldiers  out  of  town,  "  because 
they  had  no  business  here."  You  have  also  heard 


404  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

what  has  been  testified  of  the  proposals  to  attack 
the  main  guard  —  of  the  assembling  of  the  people, 
especially  in  Dock  square,  of  the  huzzaing  for  the 
main  guard  and  King  street,  and  of  the  attacking  the 
sentry.  Now  if  this  was  done  in  pursuance  of  a 
resolution  taken  "  to  drive  the  soldiers  out  of  the 
town  because  they  had  no  business  here,"  I  will 
not  now  determine  whether  it  was  treason  or  not ; 
but  it  certainly  was  a  riot  that  savored  of  rebellion  : 
for  the  suppressing  whereof,  private  persons  might  not 
only  arm  themselves,  but  make  use  of  their  arms,  if 
they  could  not  otherwise  suppress  it.  Much  more 
might  the  captain  of  the  main  guard  take  a  part  of  the 
guard,  armed  as  usual,  and  go  with  them  to  protect 
the  sentry.  From  the  evidence,  it  seems  the  sentry 
not  only  called  to  the  main  guard  for  assistance,  but 
two  men  went  and  told  them  they  must  send  assist- 
ance directly  or  the  sentry  would  be  murdered. 
Whereupon  the  captain  gave  orders,  that  a  party 
should  go  to  the  assistance  of  the  sentry,  and  they 
were  drawn  out  accordingly,  led  down  to  the  custom 
house  by  a  corporal,  and  followed  by  the  captain. 
Now  as  this  party  did  not  assemble  or  go  there  of 
their  own  accord,  but  were  sent  by  their  captain  to 
protect  the  sentry,  it  must  be  supposed  that  was  their 
design  in  going,  until  the  contrary  appears.  And 
although  upon  the  evidence  you  should  not  be  satis- 
fied that  the  sentry  was  attacked  in  pursuance  of  a 
resolution  taken  to  drive  the  soldiers  out  of  town, 
because  they  had  no  business  here,  yet  considering 
the  notice  given  to  the  captain  of  the  danger  the 
sentry  was  in,  and  what  the  captain  himself  might 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  405 

then  see  and  observe  of  the  attack  upon  the  sentry, 
he  well  might  order  out  such  a  party,  and  go  with 
them  to  protect  the  sentry ;  and  it  seems  to  be 
agreed,  that  if  the  prisoners  were  at  the  custom  house 
that  night,  all  of  them,  except  the  sentry,  were  of 
that  party.  But  if  they  were  a  lawful  assembly  when 
they  got  to  the  custom  house,  yet  if  afterwards  they 
all  agreed  to  do  an  unlawful  act  to  the  disturbance 
of  the  peace,  and  in  prosecution  of  that  design  Mav- 
erick and  the  rest  were  killed,  all  that  party  will  by 
law  be  chargeable  with  each  mortal  stroke  given  by 
either  of  them,  as  though  they  .all  had  in  fact  given  it. 
It  is  said,  that  while  they  were  at  the  custom 
house,  before  they  fired,  some  of  them  attempted 
with  their  bayonets  to  stab  every  one  they  could 
come  at,  without  any  reason  at  all  for  so  doing.  Such 
conduct  to  be  sure  can  neither  be  justified  nor  ex- 
cused. But  as  the  time  was  so  very  short,  and  some  of 
the  witnesses  declare  the  people  were  crowding  upon 
the  soldiers,  and  that  they  were  moving  their  guns 
backwards  and  forwards,  crying  "  stand  off,"  "  stand 
off,"  without  moving  from  their  station,  you  will  con- 
sider whether  this  may  not  be  what  other  witnesses 
call  an  attempt  to  stab  the  people.  But,  be  that  as 
it  may,  if  the  party  was  a  lawful  assembly  before, 
this  not  being  the  act  of  the  whole  would  not  make 
it  unlawful.  The  counsel  for  the  crown  insist,  that 
the  firing  upon  the  people  was  an  unlawful  act,  in 
disturbance  of  the  peace,  and  as  the  party  fired  so 
near  together,  it  must  be  supposed  they  previously 
agreed  to  do  it ;  that  agreement  made  them  an  un- 
lawful assembly,  if  they  were  not  so  before,  and  be- 


406  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

ing  so  when  they  fired,  all  are  chargeable  with  the 
killing  by  any  one  or  more  of  them.  However  just 
this  reasoning  may  be,  where  there  is  no  apparent 
cause  for  their  firing,  yet  it  will  not  hold  good  where 
there  is.  If  each  of  the  party  had  been  at  the  same 
instant  so  assaulted  as  that  it  would  have  justified 
his  killing  the  assailant  in  defence  of  his  own  life, 
and  thereupon  each  of  them  had  at  the  same  instant 
fired  upon  and  killed  the  person  that  assaulted  him, 
surely  it  would  not  have  been  evidence  of  a  previous 
agreement  to  fire,  or  prove  them  to  be  an  unlawful 
assembly  ;  nor  would  it  have  been  evidence  of  such 
agreement,  if  the  attack  was  not  such  as  would  jus- 
tify the  firing  and  killing,  though  it  was  such  an  as- 
sault as  would  alleviate  the  offence  and  reduce  it  to 
manslaughter,  since  there  would  be  as  apparent  a 
cause  of  the  firing  in  one  case  as  in  the  other,  and 
though  not  so  good  a  cause,  yet  such  an  one  as  the 
law  in  condescension  to  human  frailty  greatly  re- 
gards. You  will  therefore  carefully  consider  what 
the  several  witnesses  have  sworn  with  regard  to  the 
assault  made  upon  the  party  of  soldiers  at  the  custom 
house,  and  if  you  thereupon  believe  they  were  before 
and  at  the  time  of  their  firing  attacked  by  such  num- 
bers, and  in  such  a  violent  manner  as  many  of  the 
witnesses  have  positively  sworn,  you  will  be  able  to 
assign  a  cause  for  their  firing  so  near  together  as 
they  did  without  supposing  a  previous  agreement  so 
to  do.  But  it  is  said,  that  if  their  firing  as  they  did 
does  not  prove  a  previous  agreement  to  do  it,  yet  it 
is  good  evidence  of  an  actual  abetment  to  fire,  as 
one  by  firing  encourages  the  others  to  do  the  like. 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  407 

As  neither  of  the  soldiers  fired  more  than  once,  it  is 
evident  that  he  who  fired  last  could  not  thereby  in  fact 
abet  or  encourage  the  firing  of  any  of  those  who  fired 
before  him,  and  so  it  cannot  be  evidence  of  such 
abetment.  And  if  he  who  fired  first  and  killed  can 
justify  it,  because  it  was  lawful  for  him  so  to  do, 
surely  that  same  lawful  act  cannot  be  evidence  of  an 
unlawful  abetment.  And  though  he  who  first  fired 
and  killed  may  not  be  able  to  justify  the  doing  it, 
yet  if  it  appears  he  had  such  a  cause  for  the  killing 
as  will  reduce  it  to  manslaughter,  it  would  be  strange 
indeed  if  that  same  act  should  be  evidence  of  his 
abetting  another  who  killed  without  provocation,  so 
as  to  make  him  who  fired  first  guilty  of  murder. 
The  same  may  be  said  as  to  all  the  intermediate 
firings ;  and  as  the  evidence  stands,  I  do  not  think 
it  necessary  to  say  how  it  would  be  in  case  the  first 
person  fired  with  little  or  no  provocation.  If,  there- 
fore, this  party  of  soldiers  when  at  the  custom  house 
were  a  lawful  assembly  and  continued  so  until  they 
fired,  and  their  firing  was  not  an  actual  unlawful 
abetment  of  each  other  to  fire,  nor  evidence  of  it, 
they  cannot  be  said  in  consideration  of  law  to  have 
killed  those  five  persons  or  either  of  them,  but  it  must 
rest  on  the  evidence  of  the  actual  killing  ;  and  if  so, 
neither  of  the  prisoners  can  be  found  guilty  thereof, 
unless  it  appears  not  only  that  he  was  of  the  party, 
but  that  he  in  particular  did  in  fact  kill  one  or  more 
of  the  persons  slain.  That  the  five  persons  were 
killed  by  the  party  of  soldiers  or  some  of  them, 
seems  clear  upon  the  evidence,  and  indeed  is  not 
disputed. 


408  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

Some  witnesses  have  been  produced  to  prove  that 
Montgomery  killed  Attucks ;  and  Langford  swears 
Killroy  killed  Gray,  but  none  of  the  witnesses  under- 
take to  say,  that  either  of  the  other  prisoners  in  particu- 
lar killed  either  of  the  other  three  persons,  or  that  all 
of  them  did  it.  On  the  contrary,  it  seems  that  one 
of  the  six  did  not  fire,  and  that  another  of  them  fired 
at  a  boy  as  he  was  running  down  the  street,  but 
missed  him  (if  he  had  killed  him,  as  the  evidence 
stands,  it  would  have  been  murder,)  but  the  wit- 
nesses are  not  agreed  as  to  the  person  who  fired  at 
the  boy,  or  as  to  him  who  did  not  fire  at  all.  It  is 
highly  probable,  from  the  places  where  the  five  per- 
sons killed  fell,  and  their  wounds,  that  they  were 
killed  by  the  discharge  of  five  several  guns  only.  If 
you  are  upon  the  evidence  satisfied  of  that,  and  also 
that  Montgomery  killed  Attucks,  and  Killroy,  Gray, 
it  will  thence  follow  that  the  other  three  were  killed, 
not  by  the  other  six  prisoners,  but  by  three  of  them 
only  ;  and  therefore  they  cannot  all  be  found  guilty 
of  it.  And  as  the  evidence  does  not  show  which 
three  killed  the  three,  nor  that  either  of  the  six  in 
particular  killed  either  of  the  three,  you  cannot  find 
either  of  the  six  guilty  of  killing  them  or  either  of 
them.  If  you  are  satisfied,  upon  the  evidence  given 
you,  that  Montgomery  killed  Attucks,  you  will  pro- 
ceed to  inquire  whether  it  was  justifiable,  excusable, 
or  felonious  homicide,  and  if  the  latter,  whether  it 
was  maliciously  done  or  not.  As  he  is  charged  with 
murder,  if  the  fact  of  killing  be  proved,  all  the  cir- 
cumstances of  necessity  or  infirmity  are  to  be  satis- 
factorily proved  by  him,  unless  they  arise  out  of  the 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  409 

evidence  produced  against  him,  for  the  law  presumeth 
the  fact  to  have  been  founded  in  malice  until  the  con- 
trary appears. 

You  will,  therefore,  carefully  consider  and  weigh 
the  whole  of  the  evidence  given  you  respecting  the 
attack  made  upon  the  party  of  soldiers  in  general, 
and  upon  Montgomery  in  particular.  In  doing  it, 
you  will  observe  the  rules  I  have  before  mentioned, 
and  not  forget  the  part  that  some  of  the  witnesses 
took  in  this  unhappy  affair,  and  if,  upon  the  whole, 
it  appears  to  you  that  Montgomery  was  attacked  in 
such  a  violent  manner  that  his  life  was  in  imme- 
diate danger,  or  that  he  had  sufficient  reason  to  think 
it  was,  and  he  thereupon  fired  and  killed  Attucks  for 
the  preservation  of  his  own  life,  it  was  justifiable 
homicide,  and  he  ought  to  be  acquitted.  If  you  do 
not  believe  that  was  the  case,  but  upon  the  evidence 
are  satisfied  that  he  was  by  that  assembly  assaulted 
with  clubs  and  other  weapons,  and  thereupon  fired 
at  the  rioters  and  killed  Attucks  ;  then  you  ought  to 
find  him  guilty  of  manslaughter  only.  But  if,  upon 
the  evidence,  you  believe  that  Montgomery,  without 
being  previously  assaulted,  fired  and  killed  Attucks  ; 
then  you  will  find  him  guilty  of  murder.  But  you 
must  know  that  if  this  party  of  soldiers,  in  general, 
were  pelted  with  snowballs,  pieces  of  ice  and  sticks, 
in  anger,  this  without  more  amounts  to  an  assault, 
not  only  upon  those  that  were  in  fact  struck,  but 
upon  the  whole  party  ;  and  is  such  an  assault  as 
will  reduce  the  killing  to  manslaughter.  And  if  you 
believe,  what  some  of  the  witnesses  have  sworn,  that 
35 


410  AMERICAN     TRIALS. 

the  people  round  the  soldiers,  and  many  of  them 
armed  with  clubs,  crowded  upon  the  soldiers,  and 
with  the  cry  of,  "  Rush  on,  kill  them,  kill  them, 
knock  them  over,"  did  in  fact  rush  on,  strike  at  them 
with  their  clubs,  and  give  Montgomery  such  a  blow, 
as  to  knock  him  down,  as  some  of  the  witnesses  say, 
or  to  make  him  sally,  or  stagger,  as  others  say,  it 
will  be  sufficient  to  show  that  his  life  was  in  imme- 
diate danger,  or  that  he  had  sufficient  reason  to 
think  so. 

It  seems  that  a  doctrine  has  of  late  been  advanced, 
that  soldiers,  while  on  duty,  may,  upon  no  occasion 
whatever,  fire  upon  their  fellow  subjects,  without  the 
order  of  a  civil  magistrate.  This  may  possibly  ac- 
count for  some  of  those  who  attacked  the  soldiers, 
saying  to  them,  "  You  dare  not  fire,  we  know  you 
dare  not  fire."  But  it  ought  to  be  known  that  the 
law  doth  not  countenance  such  an  absurd  doctrine. 
A  man  by  becoming  a  soldier  doth  not  thereby  lose 
the  right  of  self-defence,  which  is  founded  in  the  law 
of  nature.  Where  any  one  is,  without  his  own  de- 
fault, reduced  to  such  circumstances  that  the  laws 
of  society  cannot  avail  him,  the  law  considers  him 
"as  still,  in  that  instance,  under  the  protection  of 
the  law  of  nature."  This  rule  extends  to  soldiers  as 
well  as  others ;  nay,  while  soldiers  are  in  the  imme- 
diate service  of  the  king,  and  the  regular  discharge 
of  their  duty,  they  rather  come  within  the  reason  of 
civil  officers  and  their  assistants,  and  so  are  alike 
under  the  peculiar  protection  of  the  law. 

If  you  are  satisfied  upon  the  evidence,  that  Killroy 
killed  Gray,  you  will  then  inquire,  whether  it  was 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  411 

justifiable,  excusable,  or  felonious  homicide,  and  if 
the  latter,  whether  it  was  with  or  without  malice.  If 
the  attack  was  upon  the  party  of  soldiers  in  general, 
and  in  the  manner  I  have  just  mentioned,  as  some 
of  the  witnesses'  say  it  was,  it  is  equally  an  assault 
upon  all,  whether  all  were  in  fact  struck,  or  not,  and 
makes  no  material  difference,  as  to  their  respective 
right  of  firing  ;  for  a  man  is  not  obliged  to  wait  until 
he  is  killed,  or  struck,  before  he  makes  use  of  the 
necessary  means  of  self-defence.  If  the  blows  with 
clubs  were,  by  an  enraged  multitude,  aimed  at  the 
party  in  general,  each  one  might  reasonably  think  his 
own  life  in  danger  ;  for  though  he  escaped  the  first 
blow,  he  might  reasonably  expect  more  would  follow, 
and  could  have  no  assurance  that  he  should  be  so 
fortunate  as  to  escape  all  of  them. 

Therefore,  I  do  not  see  but  that  Killroy  is  upon 
the  same  footing  with  Montgomery  ;  and  your  verdict 
must  be  the  same  as  to  both,  unless  what  Hemming- 
way  swears  Killroy  said,  or  the  affray  at  the  rope- 
walks,  or  both,  materially  vary  the  case.  Hemming- 
way  swears,  that  he  and  Killroy  were  talking  about 
the  town's  people  and  the  soldiers,  and  that  Killroy 
said,  "  He  never  would  miss  an  opportunity,  when 
he  had  one,  to  fire  on  the  inhabitants  ;  that  he  had 
wanted  to  have  an  opportunity,  ever  since  he  land- 
ed." But  he  says  he  cannot  remember  what  words 
immediately  preceded  or  followed,  or  at  what  par- 
ticular time  the  words  were  uttered,  nor  does  he 
know  whether  Killroy  was  jocular  or  not.  If  the 
witness  is  not  mistaken  as  to  the  words,  the  speech 
was,  at  least,  very  imprudent  and  foolish.  However, 


412  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

if  Killroy,  either  in  jest  or  in  earnest,  uttered  those 
words,  yet  if  the  assault  upon  him  was  such,  as  would 
justify  his  firing  and  killing,  or  alleviate  it  so  as  to 
make  it  but  manslaughter,  that  will  not  enhance  the 
killing  to  murder.  And  though  it  has  been  sworn 
that  Killroy,  and  other  soldiers,  had  a  quarrel  with 
Gray  and  others,  at  the  ropewalks,  a  few  days  before 
the  fifth  of  March,  yet  it  is  not  certain  that  Killroy 
then  knew  Gray,  or  aimed  at  him  in  particular.  But 
if  Gray  encouraged  the  assault  by  clapping  the  assail- 
ants on  their  backs,  as  Hinckley  swears  he  did,  and 
Killroy  saw  this,  and  knew  him  to  be  one  of  those 
that  were  concerned  in  the  affray  at  the  ropewalks, 
this  very  circumstance  would  have  a  natural  tenden- 
cy to  raise  Killroy's  passions,  and  throw  him  off  his 
guard,  much  more  than  if  the  same  things  had  been 
done  by  another  person.  In  the  tumult  of  passion 
the  voice  of  reason  is  not  heard,  and  it  is  owing  to 
the  allowance  the  law  makes  for  human  frailty,  that 
all  unlawful  voluntary  homicide  is  not  deemed  mur- 
der. If  there  be  "  malice  between  A  and  B,  and  they 
meet  casually,  A  assaults  B,  and  drives  him  to  the 
wall,  B,  in  his  own  defence,  kills  A,  this  is  se  defen- 
dendo,  and  shall  not  be  heightened  by  the  former 
malice  into  murder  or  homicide  at  large,  for  it  was 
not  a  killing  upon  the  account  of  the  former  malice, 
but  upon  a  necessity  imposed  upon  him  by  the  as- 
sault of  A."  So,  upon  the  same  principle,  where 
the  assault  is  such  as  would  make  the  killing  but 
manslaughter,  if  there  had  been  no  previous  quarrel, 
the  killing  ought  to  be  attributed  to  the  assault,  un- 
less the  evidence  clearly  shows  the  contrary ;  an 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  413 

assault  being  known  and  allowed  by  law  to  be  a 
provocation  to  kill,  that  will  free  the  party  from  the 
guilt  of  murder  ;  whereas  neither  words  of  reproach, 
nor  actions  expressive  of  contempt,  "  are  a  provoca- 
tion to  use  such  violence,"  that  is,  the  law  doth  not 
allow  them  to  be,  without  an  assault,  such  a  provo- 
cation as  will  excuse  the  killing,  or  make  it  any 
thing  less  than  murder.  Upon  the  same  principle, 
where  the  assault  is  such  as  makes  the  killing  man- 
slaughter, the  killing  ought  to  be  attributed  to  the 
assault,  unless  the  evidence  clearly  shows  the  con- 
trary. 

This  meeting  of  Killroy  and  Gray  was  casual  upon 
the  part  of  Killroy  at  least ;  he  was  lawfully  ordered 
to  the  place  where  he  was,  and  had  no  right  to  quit 
his  station  without  the  leave  of  Captain  Preston,  nor 
were  any  of  the  party  obliged  to  retreat  and  give 
way  to  the  rioters,  but  might  lawfully  stand  and 
repel  force  by  force. 

It  is  needless  for  me  to  say  what  you  ought  to  d\> 
with  regard  to  the  other  six  prisoners,  in  case  they 
had  gone  to  the  custom-house,  not  to  protect  the 
sentry,  but  to  disturb  the  peace,  or  after  they  got 
there,  and  before  the  firing,  had  agreed  so  to  do ;  or, 
in  case  they  had  actually  unlawfully  abetted  the  kill- 
ing ;  because  none  of  these  things  have  been  testifi- 
ed, nor  can  any  of  them  be  deduced  from  any  thing 
which  has  been  given  to  you  in  evidence. 

Having  already  said  much  more  upon  this  occa- 
sion, than  I  should  have  thought  necessary  in  a  like 
case,  at  any  other  time,  I  shall  add  no  more. 
35' 


414  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

Each  of  the  other  justices  also  summed  up  the 
evidence  to  the  jury  very  particularly,  and  gave  their 
opinions  of  the  construction  of  law  upon  the  evi- 
dence, but  they  differed  in  no  material  point  from 
Mr.  Justice  Trowbridge,  who,  according  to  the  custom 
of  the  court,  spoke  first.  The  jury  withdrew  for  about 
two  hours  and  a  half,  and  then  returned  into  court, 
with  a  verdict  of  not  guilty  as  to  all  the  prisoners, 
except  Killroy  and  Montgomery,  who  were  found 
not  guilty  of  murder  but  guilty  of  manslaughter. 
They  prayed  the  benefit  of  clergy,1  which  was  allow- 
ed them,  and  thereupon  they  were  each  of  them  burnt 
in  the  hand,  in  open  court,  and  were  discharged. 

1  Benefit  of  clergy  was  a  privilege  of  clergymen,  originating 
in  a  pious  regard  for  the  church,  by  which  the  clergy  of  Catholic 
countries  were  either  partially  or  wholly  exempted  from  the  juris- 
diction of  the  ordinary  legal  tribunals.  It  extended  in  England 
only  to  the  case  of  felony  ;  and,  though  it  was  intended  to  apply 
only  to  clerical  persons  or  clerks,  yet,  as  the  being  able  to  read 
was,  by  the  laws  of  England,  considered  as  sufficient  evidence  of 
the  clerical  character,  when  the  rudiments  of  learning  carne  to  be 
diffused,  almost  every  man  in  the  community  became  entitled  to 
this  privilege.  A  person  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  clergy  was  for- 
merly handed  over  to  the  ecclesiastical  tribunals  for  trial.  But  this 
giving  rise  to  great  abuses,  the  secular  judges  ordered  those  who 
were  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  clergy  to  be  detained  in  prison  until 
they  should  be  pardoned  by  the  king.  By  a  statute  passed  in  the 
reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  persons  convicted  of  felony  and  entitled 
to  the  benefit  of  clergy  were  to  be  discharged  from  prison,  being  first 
branded  in  the  thumb ;  if  laymen,  it  was  discretionary  with  the 
judge  to  detain  them  in  prison  not  exceeding  one  year.  At  the 
time  of  the  trial  of  the  British  soldiers,  manslaughter  was  within 
the  benefit  of  elegy,  and  the  punishment  was  for  the  offender  to  be 
burnt  in  the  hand,  and  forfeit  all  his  goods  and  chattels.  This  pun- 
ishment was  altered  in  the  reign  of  George  IV.,  to  transportation 
for  life,  or  for  a  term  of  years;  or  imprisonment  for  a  term  not 
exceeding  three  years. 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  415 

On  the  twelfth  of  December  following,  Edward 
Manwarring,  esquire,  John  Munroe,  gentleman,  Ham- 
mond Green,  boat-builder,  and  Thomas  Greenwood, 
laborer,  were  put  upon  trial  on  the  charge  of  being 
present  aiding  and  assisting  in  the  murder  of  the 
citizens  who  were  killed  on  the  fifth  of  March.  The 
evidence  on  the  part  of  the  crown  tended  to  show 
that  the  defendants,  or  a  part  of  them,  fired  on  the 
crowd  from  the  custom-house  windows  at  the  same 
time  that  the  soldiers  fired  in  the  street.  But  the 
principal  witness,  Charles  Bourgat,  a  French  boy  and 
servant  of  Manwarring,  was  contradicted  in  every 
material  point,  so  that  his  evidence  was  not  considered 
worthy  of  the  slightest  credit.  The  jury  acquitted 
all  the  prisoners  without  leaving  their  seats. 

Thus  terminated  the  judicial  proceedings  in  rela- 
tion to  the  "  Boston  Massacre."  In  the  midst  of  an 
excitement  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  our  country, 
and  in  a  community  where  they  were  regarded  with 
such  abhorrence,  that  they  were  only  saved  from 
summary  punishment  by  the  judicious  efforts  of  the 
friends  of  law  and  order,  the  soldiers  had  a  fair  trial, 
the  result  of  which  has  stood  the  test  of  time  and 
the  examination  of  impartial  history.  To  many  calm 
and  rational  minds  it  was  not  satisfactory,  and  by  the 
people  in  general  it  was  bitterly  reproved  as  a  gross 
departure  from  strict  justice  and  an  impartial  admin- 
istration of  the  law.1  The  nature  and  extent  of  the 

1  A  few  days  after  the  trial,  while  the  court  was  still  in  session, 
an  incendiary  paper  was  posted  up,  in  the  night,  on  the  door  of  the 
town  house,  complaining  of  the  court  for  cheating  the  injured  peo- 


416  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

feeling  against  the  soldiers  can  scarcely  be  appre- 
ciated at  the  present  day.  The  people  had  been 
misrepresented,  wronged,  and  grievously  oppressed. 
The  peace  of  the  town  had  been  destroyed,  and  the 
quartering  of  soldiers  in  it  was  regarded  as  a  bitter 
insult  to  the  inhabitants.  When,  therefore,  unarmed 
citizens  were  killed  in  the  public  streets,  all  the  feel- 
ings of  bitterness,  hatred  and  revenge,  which,  until 
then,  had  been  partially  at  least  restrained  from  ac- 
tion, were  directed  towards  the  unhappy  wretches 
who  were  to  be  tried  for  their  lives.  The  press 
teemed  with  vigorous  denunciations  of  their  conduct. 
They  were  branded  throughout  the  whole  country 
as  murderers  ;  and  even  the  pulpit  fulminated  its 
thunders  against  them.  "  Some  have  whispered  a 
suspicion,"  was  the  language  of  the  senior  minister 
of  the  town,  previous  to  the  trial,  "  that  a  reprieve 
from  death  would  be  granted,  should  the  guilt  of 
blood  be  fastened  upon  some  who  are  supposed  to 
have  been  actors  in  this  horrid  wickedness.1  But  it 
is  a  high  indignity  offered  to  him  who  has  the  power 
of  giving  a  reprieve,  so  much  as  to  suspect  that  he 
would  do  it,  in  the  case  of  blood-guiltiness  clearly 
proved  upon  any  in  consequence  of  a  fair  and  im- 
partial trial." 

pie  with  a  show  of  justice,  and  calling  upon  them  to  rise  and  free 
the  world  from  such  domestic  tyrants.  It  was  taken  down  in  the 
morning,  and  carried  to  the  court,  who  were  much  disturbed,  and 
applied  to  the  lieutenant  governor,  who  laid  it  before  the  council, 
and  a  proclamation  was  issued.  Hutchinson. 

1  From  a  statement  in  Hutchinson,  vol.  iii.  p.  321),  it  is  apparent 
that  the  soldiers  would  have  been  pardoned,  if  they  had  been  con- 
victed of  murder.  It  was  even  contemplated  to  omit  the  burning 
in  the  hand. 


THE    BOSTON    MASSACRE.  417 

Notwithstanding  this  unfavorable  condition  of  the 
public  mind,  the  soldiers  were  fairly  tried ;  justice 
triumphed,  and  the  friends  of  freedom  were  saved 
from  the  lasting  reproach  of  sanguinary  proceedings 
against  defenceless  men,  who  had  cast  themselves 
upon  the  civil  power  for  protection.  The  result 
gained  for  the  friends  of  freedom  the  respect  of  the 
world,  and  no  single  occurrence  did  more  to  advance 
the  cause  of  truth  and  just  principles,  than  what  was 
denominated  in  the  language  of  that  day  the  Boston 
Massacre.  It  caused  the  immediate  withdrawal  of 
the  troops  from  the  town  of  Boston,  and  the  people, 
feeling  that  something  had  been  gained,  received 
new  confidence  in  the  determination  to  resist  the  en- 
croachments of  arbitrary  power  and  mistaken  policy. 
It  was  determined  by  the  town  to  celebrate  the  anni- 
versary of  the  fifth  of  March,  to  the  end  that  there 
might  be  an  annual  development  of  the  "  fatal  effects 
of  the  policy  of  standing  armies,  and  the  natural  ten- 
dency of  quartering  regular  troops  in  populous  cities 
in  times  of  peace."  1  On  the  day  of  the  first  cele- 

1  The  language  of  Josiah  Quincy,  Jun.  in  the  Boston  Gazette, 
February,  1771.  The  anniversary  was  observed  every  year  until 
1784.  The  names  of  the  orators  in  their  order  were  James  Lovell, 
Dr.  Joseph  Warren,  Dr.  Benjamin  Church,  John  Hancock,  Dr. 
Joseph  Warren,  Rev.  Peter  Thacher,  Benjamin  Hichborn,  Jona- 
than W.  Austin,  William  Tudor,  Jonathan  Mason,  Jun.,  Thomas 
Dawea,  Jun.,  George  Richards  Minot,  Dr.  Thomas  Welsh.  Dr. 
Warren  fell  at  the  battle  of  Bunker  hill.  The  oration  of  Rev. 
Peter  Thacher  was  delivered  in  1776,  when  Boston  was  garrisoned 
by  British  troops,  and  the  inhabitants  were  in  the  country,  which 
occasioned  the  oration  to  be  delivered  at  Watertown.  Tradition 
says,  that  the  oration  of  John  Hancock  was  written  by  Dr.  Samuel 
Cooper.  The  "  Boston  Orations  "  were  collected  in  a  volume  in 
17ri5  by  Peter  Edes. 


418  AMERICAN    TRIALS. 

bration,  the  bells  of  the  town  of  Boston  were  tolled 
from  twelve  to  one  o'clock,  at  noon,  and  from  nine 
to  ten  in  the  evening,  and,  during  the  last,  figures  to 
represent  the  murder  of  the  inhabitants  were  exhib- 
ited from  a  window  of  a  distinguished  citizen  at  the 
north  part  of  the  town.  On  the  recurrence  of  this 
anniversary  until  after  the  independence  of  the  coun- 
try was  firmly  established,  the  day  was  always  observ- 
ed in  a  solemn  and  striking  manner.  An  oration  was 
delivered  by  public  request,  when  the  orators  took 
occasion  to  illustrate  and  enforce  the  great  principles 
of  civil  and  religious  liberty,  and  the  people  of  Bos- 
ton were  thus  prepared  for  those  acts  of  spirited  and 
determined  resistance  to  the  encroachments  of  the 
crown,  which  placed  them  in  the  foremost  rank  of 
the  patriots  of  that  day,  and  covered  the  names  of 
some  of  their  number  with  imperishable  fame. 


APPENDIX. 


SKETCH  OF  WILLIAM  STOUGHTON. 

STOUGHTON,  the  first  chief  justice  of  the  province  of 
Massachusetts,  was  born  in  Dorchester  in  1G31,  and  was  graduated 
at  Harvard  College  in  1650.  He  was  educated  for  the  ministry, 
and  after  completing  his  course  of  studies  here,  went  to  England 
and,  while  there,  enjoyed  a  fellowship  at  the  Oxford  University. 
During  his  remaining  in  England  he  preached  for  some  time  in  the 
county  of  Sussex,  with  considerable  success,  and  continued  this 
employment  after  his  return  to  New  England.  He  acquired  a  high 
reputation  as  a  preacher  here,  and  in  1GG8,  was  chosen  to  preach 
the  annual  election  sermon.  He  chose  for  the  title  of  his  sermon 
on  that  occasion  "  New  England's  true  interest  not  to  lie,"  and  it 
was  pronounced  by  a  cotemporary  to  be  "  among  the  very  best  de- 
livered on  that  occasion."  He  returned  from  England  in  1G62, 
and  although  he  continued  to  preach  until  1671,  he  was  never  set- 
tled over  any  church. 

The  occasion  of  his  discontinuing  his  clerical  engagements  was' 
his  election  to  the  office  of  assistant,  which  place  he  held  by  an- 
nual reelection  until  the  dissolution  of  the  colonial  government  in 
1686.  During  this  period,  however,  he  was  absent  in  England  as 
agent  of  the  colony,  a  part  of  the  time,  having  been  chosen  to  that 
responsible  office  in  1677.  Upon  the  revocation  of  the  old  charter, 
Stoughton  was  commissioned  under  Dudley  as  deputy  president  of 
Massachusetts,  and  in  July,  1686,  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the 
courts  of  the  colony,  by  order  of  the  president  and  council,  which 


420  APPENDIX. 

office  he  held  until  the  arrival  of  Andros.  In  the  commission  to 
Andros,  Stoughton  was  named  as  one  of  his  council,  and  unfortu- 
nately for  his  popularity  he  consented  to  accept  the  office,  and 
thereby  lost  the  confidence  of  the  people,  while  he  failed  to  gain 
that  of  the  petty  tyrant  whom  he  served.  In  the  new  organization 
of  the  courts,  under  Andros,  he  was  placed  upon  the  bench  of  the 
superior  court,  but  in  a  subordinate  place  to  Dudley,  the  late  presi- 
dent, who  was  made  chief  justice  of  the  court.  With  his  accustomed 
sagacity  or  good  fortune,  Stoughton  was  found  among  the  foremost 
of  those  who  favored  the  revolution  of  1689.  His  name  stands  at 
the  head  of  those  who  demanded  of  Andros  a  surrender  of  the 
government,  and  he  was  one  of  the  council  of  safety1  who  assumed 
the  administration  until  the  people  had  an  opportunity  of  acting 
upon  the  subject. 

The  people  however  had  not  sufficiently  regained  their  confi- 
dence in  his  political  integrity  to  give  him  any  place  in  the  gov- 
ernment, upon  their  resuming  the  old  charter,  and,  until  the  arrival 
of  the  new  charter,  he  seems  to  have  been  condemned  to  the  walks 
of  private  life.  The  interval  of  his  retirement  from  office,  how- 
ever, was  short,  for  upon  the  granting  of  the  new  charter  he  was 
appointed  lieutenant  governor  of  the  province,  and  from  that  time 
till  his  death  filled  some  of  the  most  important  offices  in  the  gov- 
ernment. 

Upon  the  arrival  of  Sir  William  Phipps  in  1692,  he  proceeded  to 
constitute  a  special  court  of  oyer  and  terminer  for  the  trial  of  per- 
sons accused  of  witchcraft.  It  was  to  consist  of  five  judges,  and  at 
the  head  of  these  was  placed  William  Stoughton.  On  no  indi- 
vidual does  the  responsibility  of  the  sad  consummation  of  that  ex- 
citement rest  more  heavily  than  on  William  Stoughton.  On  the 
organization  of  the  superior  court  under  the  charter,  Stoughton 
was  nominated  and  unanimously  approved  by  the  council  as  chief 
justice  of  that  court.  He  held  the  office  until  a  short  time  before 
his  death.  During  this  time  he  also  continued  to  hold  the  offices  of 
lieutenant  governor  and  counsellor,  and,  a  part  of  the  time,  was 
commander  in  chief  of  the  province  troops.  He  erected  in  his  life- 
time a  building  for  the  accommodation  of  the  students  of  Harvard 
College,  which  was  taken  down  in  1780,"  being  an  unsubstantial 
piece  of  masonry."  In  1806,  a  substantial  brick  building  being 


1  So  stated  in  Washburn's  Judicial  History  of  Massachusetts,  from  which  this 
account  is  principally  derived.  But  see  Quincy's  History  of  Harvard  Univer- 
sity, i.  176. 


APPENDIX.  421 

erected  by  the  corporation,  the  name  of  Stoughton  was  given  to  it. 
He  died  at  the  age  of  seventy  years,  greatly  lamented,  and  was 
buried  at  Dorchester  "  with  great  honor  and  solemnity  and  with 
him  much  of  New  England's  glory."  A  Latin  epitaph  records 
his  virtues,  his  honors  and  his  name,  and  still  points  out  his  grave 
in  the  ancient  churchyard  of  that  ancient  town. 


THE  PROFESSIONAL   LIFE  OF  JOHN   ADAMS. 

The  political  history  of  John  Adams,  the  second  president  of  the 
United  States,  is  too  familiar  to  the  general  reader  to  require  any 
notice  in  this  place.  His  professional  career  and  character  are  less 
known.  He  was  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  1755,  and  studi- 
ed law  with  James  Putnam,  of  Worcester,  where  he  was  employed 
for  a  time  in  teaching  a  school.  Admitted  to  the  bar  in  1758,  he 
commenced  the  practice  of  his  profession  in  Braintree,  his  native 
town.  In  17G5,  he  removed  to  Boston.  He  early  engaged  in  the 
political  struggles  of  that  day,  and  was  far  in  advance  of  his  con- 
temporaries in  zeal  for  the  popular  cause.  Notwithstanding  his 
private  feelings,  he  was  retained  as  counsel  for  the  British  soldiers 
in  1770,  and  defended  them  with  a  spirit  and  ability,  which  mainly 
contributed  to  the  just  results  of  those  famous  trials,  and  has  re- 
dounded to  his  own  honor  and  to  that  of  the  profession  to  which 
he  belonged. 

Mr.  Adams  was  actively  engaged  in  professional  pursuits  until 
1775.  He  attended  the  courts  at  Falmouth  (now  Portland)  in 
Maine  for  twelve  successive  years  before  the  revolution.  He  was 
an  intimate  friend  of  Jonathan  Sewall,  a  distinguished  lawyer  of 
Boston,  until  the  crisis  took  place  in  American  affairs.  It  was 
while  they  were  at  Falmouth  in  July,  1774,  that  the  separation  be- 
tween them  took  place  They  were  walking,  before  breakfast,  on 
the  hill  at  the  eastern  extremity  of  the  town,  conversing  upon  the 
alarming  condition  of  the  country  and  its  future  prospects.  Nei- 
ther could  convince  the  other  that  his  views  were  erroneous,  and 
they  resolved  never  to  converse  on  the  subject  any  more.  Mr. 
Adams,  at  that  time  and  under  those  circumstances,  uttered  the 
well  known  exclamation,  "sink  or  swim,  live  or  die,  survive  or 
perish,  with  my  country  is  my  unalterable  resolution."  He  termi- 
nated the  deeply  interesting  conversation  by  saying ;  "  I  see  we 
36 


422  APPENDIX. 

must  part,  and  with  a  bleeding  heart  I  say  it,  I  fear  forever;  but 
you  may  depend  upon  it,  that  this  adieu  is  the  sharpest  thorn  on 
which  I  ever  set  my  foot."  Sewall  retired  to  England  in  1775, 
and  Mr.  Adams  did  not  meet  him  again  until  he  called  on  him  in 
London,  in  1788,  as  the  ambassador  of  the  United  States.  While 
on  the  same  circuit  in  Maine,  Mr.  Adams  wrote  to  his  wife  as  fol- 
lows :  "  My  life  has  been  a  continual  scene  of  fatigue,  vexation, 
labor  and  anxiety.  I  have  four  children.  I  had  a  pretty  estate 
from  my  father ;  I  have  been  assisted  by  your  father ;  I  have  done 
the  greatest  business  in  the  province.  I  have  had  the  richest  clients 
in  the  province.  Yet  I  am  poor,  in  comparison  with  others.  This, 
I  confess,  is  grievous  and  discouraging.  I  ought  however  to  be  can- 
did enough  to  acknowlege  that  I  have  been  imprudent.  I  have 
spent  an  estate  in  books ;  I  have  spent  a  sum  of  money  indiscreetly 
in  a  lighter,  another  in  a  pew,  and  a  much  greater  in  a  house  in 
Boston.  These  would  have  been  indiscretions,  if  the  impeachment 
of  the  judges,  the  Boston  port  bill,  &c.  &c.,  had  never  happened ; 
but  by  the  unfortunate  interruption  of  my  business  from  these 
causes,  those  indiscretions  became  almost  fatal  to  me  ;  to  be  sure, 
much  more  detrimental.  John  Lowell,  at  Newburyport,  has  built 
himself  a  house  like  the  palace  of  a  nobleman,  and  lives  in  great 
splendor.  His  business  is  very  profitable.  In  short,  every  lawyer 
who  has  the  least  appearance  of  abilities,  makes  it  do  in  the  coun- 
try. In  town,  nobody  does,  or  ever  can,  who  either  is  not  obsti- 
nately determined  never  to  have  any  connexion  with  politics,  or 
does  not  engage  on  the  side  of  the  government,  the  administration, 
and  the  court.  Let  us,  therefore,  my  dear  partner,  from  that  affec- 
tion which  we  feel  for  our  lovely  babes,  apply  ourselves,  by  every 
way  we  can,  to  the  cultivation  of  our  farm.  Let  frugality  and 
industry  be  our  virtues,  if  they  are  not  of  any  others.  And  above 
all  cares  of  this  life,  let  our  anxiety  be,  to  mould  the  minds  and 
manners  of  our  children.  Let  us  teach  them  not  only  to  do  vir- 
tuously, but  to  excel.  To  excel,  they  must  be  taught  to  be  steady, 
active,  and  industrious." 

In  1774,  Mr.  Adams  was  appointed  a  delegate  to  the  first  conti- 
nental congress,  and  in  1775  he  was  appointed  chief  justice  of 
Massachusetts.  He  was  detained,  however,  in  a  more  extended 
field  of  public  usefulness,  and  never  actually  performed  any  of  the 
duties  of  his  office  as  judge,  and  resigned  the  place  the  following 
year.  From  that  time  his  connection  with  the  judiciary  ceased. 
He  afterwards  filled  the  highest  office  in  the  nation,  and  died  July 
4, 1826,  at  the  age  of  ninety.  Mr.  Adams  was  of  a  middling  stat- 
ure and  a  full  person  ;  his  manner  of  speaking  was  generally  slow 


APPENDIX.  423 

and  deliberate,  but  when  excited,  he  expressed  himself  with  great 
energy  and  effect.  His  mind  was  strong,  his  learning  accurate  and 
extensive,  his  ability  as  a  speaker  and  a  writer  of  a  very  high 
order,  and  his  character  in  private  life  was  above  reproach.  Amer- 
ican Jurist,  xxv.  65;  Letters  of  John  Adams  to  his  wifei.  G;  Law 
Reporter,  iii.  44. 


SKETCH  OF  JOSIAH  QUINCY,  JUN. 

Josiah  Quincy,  jun.,  was  the  son  of  Josiah  Quincy,  a  merchant  in 
Boston,  who,  having  acquired  a  handsome  fortune,  retired  to  Brain- 
tree,  the  seat  of  his  ancestors.  His  son  Josiah  was  gaduated  at 
Harvard  College  in  1763.  In  the  same  year  he  commenced  the 
study  of  the  law  with  Oxenbridge  Thacher,  Esq.  of  Boston,  one  of 
the  most  eminent  lawyers  of  that  period.  Mr.  Thacher  died  in 
July,  17G5.  Mr.  Quincy  remained  in  the  office  during  the  residue 
of  his  student's  term,  took  a  general  oversight  of  its  concerns,  and, 
on  entering  his  professional  career,  succeeded  to  an  extensive  prac- 
tice, which  his  talents,  diligence,  and  fidelity,  in  a  great  measure, 
secured  to  himself.  His  industry  while  a  student,  and  during  the 
first  years  of  his  profession,  is  proved  by  several  manuscript  vol- 
umes, in  his  own  hand,  consisting  of  "  Reports  of  cases  and  points 
of  law,  solemnly  adjudged  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Province," 
part  of  which  are  original,  and  part  copied  from  the  minutes  of 
eminent  lawyers. 

The  arguments  of  Auchmuty,  Thacher,  Gridley,  Otis,  Adams, 
and  other  distinguished  lawyers,  with  the  cases  cited,  in  various 
important  questions,  are  here  abstracted  and  preserved. 

On  commencing  the  practice  of  the  law,  he  early  became  distin- 
guished for  the  zeal  with  which  he  engaged  in  the  service  of  his 
clients,  and  the  learning  and  eloquence  of  his  arguments  both  to 
the  court  and  jury.  Otis,  Adams,  Sewall,  and  the  other  great  lu- 
minaries of  the  bar  at  that  period,  were  by  many  years  his  seniors. 
His  practice,  however,  soon  became  extensive,  and  his  high  rank 
as  a  lawyer  was  acknowledged  by  his  contemporaries.  Although 
his  attachment  to  professional  pursuits  was  strong,  and  his  atten- 
tion to  his  business  unremitting,  yet  the  political  circumstances  f 
the  times  were  of  a  character  to  call  into  immediate  action  that 
love  of  country,  which  was  the  deep-seated  passion  of  his  soul. 


424  APPENDIX. 

Mr.  Quincy  became  one  of  the  most  ardent,  influential,  and  fear- 
less patriots  of  that  day.  His  efforts  in  the  cause  of  liberty,  and 
his  personal  history,  are  minutely  and  graphically  described  in  his 
memoirs  by  his  son,  Josiah  Quincy.  He  died  at  the  age  of  thirty- 
one,  in  April,  1775,  at  sea,  near  Cape  Ann,  on  his  return  from  a 
sea  voyage,  "  within  sight  of  that  beloved  country  which  he  was 
not  permitted  to  reach.  He  expired,  not  as,  a  few  weeks  after- 
wards, did  his  friend  and  copatriot,  Warren,  in  battle,  on  a  field 
ever  memorable  and  ever  glorious,  but  in  solitude,  amidst  suffer- 
ing, without  associate,  and  without  witness  ;  yet  breathing  forth  a 
dying  wish  for  his  country,  desiring  to  live  only  to  perform  towards 
her  a  last  and  signal  service." 

Mr.  Quincy  was  of  counsel  for  the  British  soldiers  engaged  in 
the  "  Boston  Massacre."  The  following  extracts  from  a  correspon- 
dence, which  parental  affection  and  anxiety  induced  Mr.  Quincy's 
father  to  commence,  will  indicate  the  nature  and  extent  of  the 
sentiment  prevalent  at  that  period  on  the  subject. 

To  Josiah  Quincy,  jun.,  Boston. 

"Braintree,  March  22,  1770. 
"  My  dear  Son, 

"  I  am  under  great  affliction,  at  hearing  the  bitterest  reproaches 
uttered  against  you,  for  having  become  an  advocate  for  those 
criminals  who  are  charged  with  the  murder  of  their  fellow-citizens. 
Good  God  !  Is  it  possible  ?  I  will  not  believe  it. 

"  Just  before  I  returned  home  from  Boston,  I  knew,  indeed,  that 
on  the  day  those  criminals  were  committed  to  prison,  a  sergeant 
had  inquired  for  you  at  your  brother's  house,  —  but  I  had  no  ap- 
prehension that  it  was  possible  an  application  would  be  made  to 
you  to  undertake  their  defence.  Since  then  I  have  been  told  that 
you  have  actually  engaged  for  Captain  Presion ;  —  and  I  have 
heard  the  severest  reflections  made  upon  the  occasion,  by  men  who 
had  just  before  manifested  the  highest  esteem  for  you,  as  one  des- 
tined to  be  a  savior  of  your  country. 

"  I  must  own  to  you,  it  has  filled  the  bosom  of  your  aged  and 
infirm  parent  with  anxiety  and  distress,  lest  it  should  not  only 
prove  true,  but  destructive  of  your  reputation  and  interest ;  and  I 
repeat,  I  will  not  believe  it,  unless  it  be  confirmed  by  your  own 
mouth,  or  under  your  own  hand. 

"  Your  anxious  and  distressed  parent, 

"  JOSIAH  QUINCY." 


APPENDIX.  425 

To  Josiah  Quincy,  Esq.,  Braintree. 

"  Boston,  March  26,  1770. 
"  Honored  Sir, 

"  I  have  little  leisure,  and  less  inclination  either  to  know,  or  to 
take  notice  of,  those  ignorant  slanderers,  who  have  dared  to  utter 
their  '  bitter  reproaches '  in  your  hearing  against  me,  for  having 
become  an  advocate  for  criminals  charged  with  murder.  But  the 
sting  of  reproach,  when  envenomed  only  by  envy  and  falsehood, 
will  never  prove  mortal.  Before  pouring  their  reproaches  into  the 
ear  of  the  aged  and  infirm,  if  they  had  been  friends,  they  would 
have  surely  spared  a  little  reflection  on  the  nature  of  an  attorney's 
oath,  and  duty  ;  —  some  trifling  scrutiny  into  the  business  and  dis- 
charge of  his  office,  and  some  small  portion  of  patience  in  viewing 
my  past  and  future  conduct. 

"  Let  such  be  told,  sir,  that  these  criminals,  charged  with  mur- 
der, are  not  yet  legally  proved  guilty,  and  therefore,  however 
criminal,  are  entitled,  by  the  laws  of  God  and  man,  to  all  legal 
counsel  and  aid  ;  that  my  duty  as  a  man  obliged  me  to  undertake ; 
that  my  duty  as  a  lawyer  strengthened  the  obligation  ;  that  from 
abundant  caution,  I  at  first  declined  being  engaged;  that  after  the 
best  advice,  and  most  mature  deliberation  had  determined  my 
judgment,  I  waited  on  Captain  Preston,  and  told  him  that  I  would 
afford  him  my  assistance  ;  but,  prior  to  this,  in  presence  of  two  of 
his  friends,  I  made  the  most  explicit  declaration  to  him,  of  my  real 
opinion,  on  the  contests  (as  I  expressed  it  to  him)  of  the  times,  and 
that  my  heart  and  hand  were  indissolubly  attached  to  the  cause  of 
my  country  ;  and  finally,  that  I  refused  all  engagement,  until  ad- 
vised and  urged  to  undertake  it,  by  an  Adams,  a  Hancock,  a 
Molineux,  a  Cushing,  a  Henshaw,  a  Pemberton,  a  Warren,  a 
Cooper,  and  a  Phillips.  This  and  much  more  might  be  told  with 
great  truth,  and  I  dare  affirm,  that  you,  and  this  whole  people  will 
one  day  REJOICE,  that  I  became  an  advocate  for  the  aforesaid 
'criminals,'  charged  with  the  murder  of  our  fellow-citizens. 

"I  never  harbored  the  expectation,  nor  any  great  desire,  that  all 
men  should  speak  well  of  me.  To  inquire  my  duty,  and  to  do  it,  is 
my  aim.  Being  mortal,  I  am  subject  to  error;  and  conscious  of 
this,  I  wish  to  be  diffident.  Being  a  rational  creature,  I  judge  for 
myself,  according  to  the  light  afforded  me.  When  a  plan  of  con- 
duct is  formed  with  an  honest  deliberation,  neither  murmuring, 
slander,  nor  reproaches  move.  For  my  single  self,  I  consider, 
judge,  and  with  reason  hope  to  be  immutable. 

36» 


426  APPENDIX. 

"  There   are  honest  men  in  all  sects,  —  I  wish  their  approba- 
tion;—  there  are  wicked  bigots  in  all  parties, —  I  abhor  them. 
"  I  am,  truly  and  affectionately,  your  son, 

"JOSIAH    QuiNCY,  JuN." 


TRIALS  FOR  WITCHCRAFT. 

Many  curious  and  valuable  documents  relating  to  the  trials  for 
witchcraft  at  Salem,  in  1692,  are  still  preserved,  although  in  an  im- 
perfect condition.  Some  of  them  are  in  the  archives  of  the  com- 
monwealth, but  more  are  in  the  office  of  the  clerk  of  the  courts  for 
Essex.  It  is  believed  that  the  original  record  book  of  these  trials  is 
lost.  A  copy  of  it  was  made  several  years  ago  for  Ichabod  Tucker, 
Esq.,  of  Salem,  but  this  also  is  lost  or  misplaced.  Every  thing  re- 
lating to  these  trials  possesses  an  interest,  and  several  of  the  docu- 
ments have  been  copied  for  insertion  in  this  work.  They  will  be 
found  to  be  interesting  as  throwing  light  not  only  upon  these  trials, 
showing  to  some  extent  the  forms  of  judicial  proceedings  at  that 
day,  but  they  also  exhibit  the  condition  of  the  public  mind,  and 
give  striking  proof  of  affecting  and  impassioned  eloquence,  and  dis- 
play the  energies  of  humble  minds  powerfully  excited  by  the  con- 
sciousness of  being  placed  in  momentous  extremities.  The  author 
deems  it  proper,  in  this  place,  to  express  his  grateful  acknowledge- 
ments to  Mr.  Shillaber,  clerk  of  the  courts  in  the  county  of  Essex, 
and  to  that  laborious  and  intelligent  antiquarian,  Mr.  J.  B.  Felt,  of 
Boston,  for  the  facilities  which  they  have  afforded  him  in  his  inves- 
tigations. 


FORM   OF   WARRANT   FOR   THE    ARREST   OF    PERSONS    SUSPECTED 
OF    WITCHCRAFT. 

To  the  marshall  of  Essex  or  deputy  or  constables  in  Salem : 

You  are  in  their  majesties'  names  hereby  required  to  apprehend 
and  forthwith  to  bring  before  us,  Benjamin  Procter,  the  son  of  John 
Procter,  of  Salem,  farmer,  and  Mary  Derich,  the  wife  of  William 
Derich  of  Salem,  farmers  and  husbandmen,  and  Sarah  Pease,  the 
wife  of  Robert  Pease,  of  Salem,  weaver,  who  all  stand  charged  of 
having  committed  sundry  acts  of  witchcraft  on  the  bodys  of  Mary 
Warren,  Abigail  Williams  and  Eliza  Hurlbert  of  Salem  village, 
whereby  great  hurt  is  donne  them.  In  order  to  their  examination 


APPENDIX.  427 

relating  [to]  the  above  said  premises,  and  hereof  you  are  not  to  fail. 
Dated  Salem,  May  the  23d,  1692. 

JOHN  HATHORNE, 
JONATHAN  CORWIN. 
Per  order  of  the  Governor  and  council. 

I  do  appoint  Mr.  John  Putnam  to  be  my  lawful  deputy  to  serve 
this  warrant. 

GEO.  HERRICK,  Marshall  of  Essex. 


EXAMINATION   OF   MARY   BLACK. 

The  examination  of  Mary  Black,  (a  negro)  at  a  court  held  at 
Salem  village  22  April,  1692.  By  the  magistrates  of  Salem. 

Mary,  you  are  accused  of  sundry  acts  of  witchcraft :  Tell  me  be 
you  a  witch? 

silent. 

How  long  have  you  been  a  witch  ? 

I  cannot  tell. 

But  have  you  been  a  witch  ? 

I  cannot  tell  you. 

Why  do  you  hurt  these  folks  ? 

I  hurt  nobody. 

Who  doth  ? 

I  do  not  know. 

Her  master,  saith  a  man  sat  down  upon  the  farm  with  her 
about  a  twelvemonth  ago. 

What  did  the  man  say  to  you? 

He  said  nothing. 

Doth  this  negroe  hurt  you  ? 

Severall  of  them  said  yes. 

Why  do  you  hurt  them  ? 

I  did  not  hurt  them. 

Do  you  prick  sticks  ? 

No,  I  pin  my  neckcloth. 

Well,  take  out  a  pin  and  pin  it  again. 

She  did  so,  and  severall  of  the  afflicted  cried  out  they  were 
prick 't.  Mary  Walcott  was  prick't  in  the  arm  till  the  blood  came, 
Abigail  Williams  was  prick't  in  the  stomach  and  Mercy  Lewis  was 
prick't  in  the  foot. 

Mr.  Samuel  Parris  being  desired  to  take  in  writing  the  examina- 
tion of  Mary  Black,  a  negro  woman,  delivered  it  as  aforesaid.  And 
upon  hearing  the  same  and  seeing  what  we  did  then  see  together 


428  APPENDIX. 

with  the  charge  of  the  afflicted  person  then  present,  we  committed 

said  Mary  Black. 

JOHN  HATHORNE,     )  .     ., 
JONATHAN  CORWIN,  5  ASS1S  ts' 


WARRANT   FOR   JURY. 

To  George  Corwin,  Gent.  Sheriff  of  the  County  of  Essex.  Greeting. 
You  are  required  in  their  Majesties  names  to  publish  and  give 
notice  within  your  Bailiwicke  in  the  best  manner  you  can  of  the 
sitting  of  their  majesties  Justices  upon  a  Commissioner  of  Oyer 
and  terminer  at  the  Town  of  Salem  upon  Tuesday  next  the  second 
of  June  next  at  Eight  in  the  morning,  for  the  tryal  of  all  Crimes 
and  offences  done  and  perpetrated  within  the  s-d  County,  requiring 
all  persons  concerned  as  prosecutors  or  evidences  to  give  their 
attendance ;  and  to  return  eighteen  honest  and  lawfull  men  of 
y'r  Bailowick  to  serve  upon  the  Jury  of  tryals  at  the  said  Court, 
hereof  faile  not  Dated  in  Boston,  May  30th,  1G92.  In  the  ffourth 
year  of  their  ma'ties  Reign. 

WILLIAM  STOCGHTON, 
SAM'L  SEWALL. 


DEATH   WARRANT   OF   BRIDGET   BISHOP.      (See  p.  97.) 

To  George  Corwin  Gent'n  high  Sheriffe  of  the  County  of  Essex. 

Greeting. 

Whereas  Bridgett  Bishop  als  Olliver  the  wife  of  Edward  Bishop  of 
Salem  in  the  County  of  Essex  Sawyer  at  a  special  Court  of  Oyer 
and  Terminer  held  at  Salem  the  second  day  of  this  instant  month 
of  June  for  the  Countyes  of  Essex,  Middlesex  and  Suffolk  before 
William  Stoughton,  Esq.  and  his  Associate  Justices  of  the  said 
Court  was  Indicted  and  arraigned  upon  five  severall  Indictments 
for  useing,  practising  and  exercising  on  the  nyneteenth  day  of 
April  last  past  and  divers  other  dayes  and  times  before  and  after 
certaine  acts  of  Witchcraft  in  and  upon  the  bodyes  of  Abigail  Wil- 
liams, Ann  Putnam  Jun  Mercy  Lewis,  Mary  Walcot  and  Eliza- 
beth Hubbard  of  Salem  village,  singlewomen,  whereby  their  bodyes 
were  hurt,  afflicted,  pined,  consumed,  wasted  and  tormented  con- 
trary to  the  forme  of  the  statute  in  that  Case  made  and  provided. 
To  which  Indictm'ts  the  said  Bridgett  Bishop  pleaded  not  guilty 
and  for  Tryall  thereof  put  herselfe  upon  God  and  her  Country, 


APPENDIX.  429 

whereupon  she  was  found  guilty  of  the  ffelonyes  and  Witchcraft 
whereof  she  stood  Indicted  and  sentence  of  Death  accordingly 
passed  ag't  her  as  the  Law  directs,  Execution  whereof  yet  remain- 
eth  to  be  done.  These  are  therefore  in  the  name  of  their  Maj'ties 
William  and  Mary  now  King  and  Queen  over  England,  &c.  to  will 
and  Comand  you  That  upon  ffryday  next  being  the  Tenth  Day  of 
this  instant  month  of  June  between  the  houres  of  Eight  and 
twelve  in  the  aforenoon  of  the  same  day  you  safely  conduct  the  s'd 
Bridgett  Bishop  als  Olliver  from  their  maj'ties  Gaol  in  Salem 
afores'd  to  the  place  of  Execution  and  there  cause  her  to  be  hanged 
by  the  neck  untill  she  be  dead  and  of  your  doings  herein  make 
returne  to  the  Clerke  of  the  s'd  Court  and  prept.  And  hereof  you 
are  not  to  faile  Given  vnder  my  hand  and  Scale  at  Boston  the 
Eighth  day  of  June  in  the  ffourth  year  of  the  Reigne  of  our  Sove- 
reign Lord  and  Lady  William  and  Mary  now  King  and  Queen  over 
England  &c  Annoq  Dm  :  1692. 

WM.  STOUGHTON. 

June  10th,  1G92. 

According  to  the  Within  Written  precept  I  have  taken  the  body 
of  the  within  named  Bridgett  Bishop  out  of  their  Majesties  Gaole 
in  Salem  and  safely  conveighed  her  to  the  place  provided  for  her 
Execution  and  Caused  y'e  s'd  Brigett  to  be  hanged  by  the  neck 
untill  she  was  dead  and  buried  in  the  place  [the  words  in  italics  are 
partly  erased]  all  which  was  according  to  the  time  Within  Re- 
quired and  So  I  make  Returne  by  me. 

GEORGE  CORWIN,  Sheriff. 


INDICTMENT   OF   WILLIAM   BARKER. 

Province  of  Massachusetts^  Anno  R.  R.  &  Regime  Gulielmi  <fc 
Bay.  Essex,  as.  in  New  >Mariae  Anglicse,&c.  Quarto  Annoque 
England.  )  Dom.  1G92. 

The  jurors  for  our  sovereign  Lord  and  Lady ,  the  King  and  Queen, 
present,  that  William  Barker,  of  Andover,  in  the  county  of  Essex, 
aforesaid,  husbandman,  about  three  years  last  past,  in  the  township 
of  Andover,  aforesaid,  wickedly,  maliciously,  and  feloniously,  by  a 
covenant  with  the  Devill.  did  make  and  did  sign  the  Devill's  Booke 
with  blood,  and  gave  himself,  soule  and  body,  to  the  Devill.  By 
which  wicked  and  diabolical  covenant  with  the  Devill,  made  in 
manner  and  form  aforesaid,  the  said  William  Barber  is  become  a 
detestable  witch,  against  the  peace  of  our  sovereign  Lord  and 
Lady,  the  King  and  Queen,  their  crowne  and  dignity,  and  the 
law,  in  that  case  made  and  provided. 
(Endorsed)  Billa  Vera. 

ROBERT  PAYNE,  Foreman. 


430  APPENDIX. 


INDICTMENT   OF   SAMUEL   WARDELL.      (Seep.  121.) 

Essex,  in  the  province  of  ^  Ano.  RRs.  &  Reginse  Gulielmi  &  Ma- 
the  Massachusetts  bay,  V  rise,  Anglise,  &c.  Quarto,  Anoq.  Dom. 
in  New  England,  ss.  )  1692. 

The  Jurors  for  our  sov.  Lord  &  Lady,  the  King  &  Queen,  pre- 
sent Samuel  Wardell,  of  Andover,  in  the  County  of  Essex,  Car- 
penter About  Twenty  Years  agoe  in  the  Towne  of  Andover, 
In  the  County  of  Essex  aforesaid  Wickedly  &  felloniously  he  the 
Said  Samuel  Wardell  with  the  Evill  Speritt  the  Devill  A  Couenant 
did  make  Wherin  he  promised  to  honor  Worship  &  beleiue  the 
devill  Contrary  to  the  Stattute  of  King  James  the  first  in  that  be- 
halfe  made  &  provided,  And  against  the  peace  of  Soveraigne  Lord 
&  Lady  the  King  &  Queen,  their  Crown  &  dignity. 


FORMS   OF   DEPOSITIONS. 

The  deposition  of  Mercy  Lewis,  aged  about  eighteen  years  or 
thereabouts,  testifieth  and  saith,  that  on  the  twenty-sixth  day  of 
this  instant,  May,  that  Goody  Reed,  of  Marblehead,  did  pinch  her, 
and  she  hath  seen  her  severall  times  since,  but  she  could  not  say 
she  hurt  her  :  and  further  saith  nott. 

The  Deposition  of  Sam  :  Parris  aged  about  39  years,  &  John 
Putman,  sen.  aged  about  63  years,  both  of  Salem  Village,  testifyeth 
and  saith,  that  this  18  instant,  June,  being  at  the  house  of  Jonathan 
Putman  whom  we  found  very  ill,  after  a  little  while  Mercy  Lewis, 
sent  for  on  purpose,  came  into  said  Jonathan  Putman's  house,  & 
was  presently  struck  dumb,  but  being  bid  to  hold  up  her  hand  if  she 
saw  any  of  the  witches  afflict  said  Jonathan,  whereupon  she  pre- 
sently lift  up  her  hand,  &  after  fell  into  a  Trance,  &  when  said 
Mercy  came  to  her  self,  she  said  she  saw  Goody  Nurse  &  Goody 
Currier  holding  said  Jonathan's  head,  and  farther  saith  not. 
Jurat  in  Curia. 


RETURN  OF  A  JURY  OF  EXAMINATION.  (See  p.  94.) 

1692.  Salem  June  2d  aboute  10  in  Morning. 
Wee  whose  names  are  Vnder  written,  being  Comanded  by  Capt. 
George  Corwine  Esq.  Sheriffe  of  y'e  County  of  Essex  this  2d  day 
of  June  JG92  for  to  vew  y'e  bodyes  of  Brigett  Bishop  alias  Oliver, 
Rebeccah  Nurse,  Elizabeth  Procter,  Alice  Parker,  Susanna  Mar- 
tine,  Sarah  Good.  The  first  three,  namely  ;  Bishop;  Nurse ;  Proc- 


APPENDIX.  431 

ter ;  by  diligent  search  have  discouered  a  preternaturall  Excres- 
cence of  flesh  betweene  y'e  pudendum  and  Anus  much  like  to  tetta 
&  not  vsuall  in  women,  &  much  Vnlike  to  y'e  other  three  that 
hath  been  searched  by  vs  &  y't  they  were  in  all  y'e  three  women 
neer  y'e  same  place.  J.  BARTON,  Chyrurg. 

ALICE    X     PICKERING,  JANE    t*j     WOOLINGS, 

her  marke.  her  marke. 

MARGERY    ^     WILLIAMS,  ANNA    X     STEPHENS, 

her  marke.  her  marke. 

ELIZABETH    ><<     HILL.  ELANOR    M     HENDERSON. 

her  marke.  her  marke. 

REBECAH    x     SHARP,  LYDIA    •/.     PICKMAN. 

her  marke.  her  marke. 

HANNAH  KEZIER. 

Sworne  in  Court,  June  2d,  1692. 

Alt.  STEP:  SEWALL,Cle. 

Salem,  aboute  4  afternoon,  June  2d,  1692. 

We  whose  names  are  subscribed  to  y'e  within  mentioned,  upon  a 
second  search  aboute  3  or  4  houres  distance,  did  find  y'e  said 
Brigett  Bishop  alias  Oliver,  in  a  clear  &  free  state  from  any  pre- 
ternaturall Excrescence,  as  formerly  seen  by  vs  as  alsoe  Rebecah 
Nurse,  instead  of  that  Excresence  within  mentioned,  it  appears 
only  as  a  dry  skin,  without  sener,  &  as  for  Elizabeth  Procter 
which  Excresence  like  a  tett  Red  &  fresh,  not  any  thing  appears, 
but  only  a  proper  procedentia  Anj,  &  as  for  Susanna  Martine 
whose  breast  in  y'e  morning  search  appeared  to  vs  very  full ;  y'e 
niblis  fresh  &  starting,  now  at  this  Searching  all  Lancke  & 
pendant,  which  is  all  at  present  from  y'e  within  mentioned  Sub- 
scribers, that  that  piece  of  flesh  of  Goodwife  Nursys  formerly  seen 
is  gone  &  only  a  dry  skin  nearer  to  y'e  anus  in  another  place. 

[Signed  as  above.] 


PETITION  OF   REBECCA   FOX. 

To  his  excellency  Sir  Williams  Phips,  Knt.  governor,  and  the 
honorable  council  now  sitting  at  Boston,  the  humble  petition  of 
Rebecca  Fox  of  Cambridge,  showeth,  That  whereas  Rebecca  Ja- 
cobs (daughter  of  your  humble  petitioner)  has  a  long  time, 
even  many  months  now  lyen  in  prison  for  witchcraft,  and  is  well 
known  to  be  a  person  craz'd,  distracted  and  broken  in  mind,  your 


432  APPENDIX. 

humble  petitioner  does  most  humbly  and  earnestly  seek  unto  your 
excellency  and  to  your  honors  for  relief  in  this  case. 

Your  petitioner,  who  knows  well  the  condition  of  her  poor  daugh- 
ter, together  with  seveial  others  of  good  repute  and  credit,  are 
ready  to  offer  their  oaths,  that  the  said  Jacobs  is  a  woman  craz'd, 
distracted,  and  broken  in  her  mind,  and  that  she  has  been  so  these 
twelve  years  and  upwards. 

However,  for  (I  think)  about  this  half  year  the  said  Jacobs  has 
lyen  in  prison,  and  yet  remains  there  attended  with  many  sad  diffi- 
culties. 

Christianity  and  nature  do  each  of  them  oblige  your  petitioner  to 
become  solicitous  in  this  matter,  &  although  many  weighty  cases 
exercise  your  thoughts,  yet  your  petitioner  can  have  no  rest  in  her 
mind,  till  such  time  as  she  has  offered  this  addresse  on  behalf  of 
her  daughter. 

Some  have  dyed  already  in  prison,  &  others  have  been  danger- 
ously sick,  &  how  soon  others  &  among  them  my  poor  child  by 
the  difficulties  of  this  confinement,  may  be  sick  &  dye,  God  only 
knows  :  She  is  incapable  of  making  that  shift  for  herself  that  others 
can  do,  <fc  such  are  her  circumstances  on  other  accounts  that  your 
petitioner  who  is  her  tender  mother  has  many  secret  sorrows  & 
almost  overcoming  burthens  on  her  mind  upon  her  account,  but  in 
the  midst  of  all  her  perplexities  &  troubles  (next  to  supplicating  to 
a  good  &  merciful  God)  your  petitioner  has  no  way  for  help  but  to 
make  this  her  afflicted  condition  known  unto  you.  So  not  doubt- 
ing but  your  excellency  and  your  honors  will  readily  hear  the 
cries  &  groans  of  a  poor  distressed  woman  &  grant  what  help  & 
enlargment  you  may,  your  petitioner  heartily  begs  God's  gracious 
presence  with  you  &  subscribes  herself  in  all  humble  manner, 
Your  sorrowful  &  distressed  petitioner, 

REBECCA  Fox. 


PETITION  OF   ANN  PTJDEATER.      (See  p.  121.) 

The  humble  Petition  of  Ann  Pudeater  unto  y'e  honoored  Judge 
and  Bench  now  setting  in  Judicature  in  Salem  humbly  sheweth  : 

That  Whereas  your  Poor  and  humble  Petitioner  being  condemn- 
ed to  die,  and  knowing  in  my  own  conscience  as  I  shall  shortly 
answer  it  before  y'e  great  God  of  heauen  who  is  the  searcher  and 
knower  of  all  hearts :  That  the  Euidence  of  Jno  Best  Sen  and  Jno 
Best  Jun'r  and  Sam'lt  Pickworth  w'h  was  giuen  in  against  me  in 
Court  were  all  of  whom  altogether  false  and  untrue  and  besides 


APPENDIX.  433 

the  abouesaid  Jno  Best  hath  been  formerly  whipt  and  likewise 
is  recorded  for  A  Lyar  I  would  humbly  begg  of  yo'r  honors  to 
Take  it  into  your  Judicious  and  Pious  consideration  That  my  life 
may  not  be  taken  away  by  such  false  Euidences  and  witnesses  as 
those  be  likewise  y'e  Euidence  giuen  in  against  me  by  Sarah 
Church  and  Mary  Warren  I  am  altogether  ignorant  off  and  know 
nothing  in  y'e  least  measure  about  it  nor  nothing  else  concerning 
y'e  crime  of  witchcraft  for  w'ch  1  am  condemned  to  die  as  will  be 
known  to  men  and  angells  att  the  great  day  of  Judgment  begging 
and  imploring  your  prayers  att  the  throne  of  grace  in  my  behalf 
and  your  poor  and  humble  petition'r  shall  for  euer  pray  as  she 
is  bound  in  duty  for  y'r  honors  health  and  happiness  in  this  life  and 
eternall  felicity  in  y'e  world  to  come. 


GEORGE   BURROUGHS. 

(See  page  114.) 

Forasmuch  as  its  made  manifest  that  y'e  children  of  Mr.  George 
Burroughs  Dece'd  by  his  former  wiews  did  in  y'e  time  of  his  Im- 
prisonment administer  vnto  him  necessary  things  and  were  at 
considerable  charge  thereabout  and  for  his  interment  and  that  y'e 
widow  had  most  or  all  of  y'e  personal  Estate.  In  Consideration 
Whereof  Wee  y'e  Subscribers  a  Comittee  apointed  by  y'eGenerall 
Court  do  Consent  agree  and  order  that  the  Six  pounds  G'd  money 
yet  remain'g  of  y'e  fifty  pounds  alowed  by  y'e  Gouernment  Shall 
be  payd  to  y'e  s'd  Children  in  Equal  Shares. 

January  3d,  1712.  JOHN  APPLETON, 

THOMAS  NOTES, 
STEPHEN  SEWALL, 
NEH.  JEWETT. 

Boston  April  y'e  9  : 

Honnoured  Sir  :  the  fauour  which  i  would  humbly  ask  of  your 
honnour  at  this  time  is  that  you  would  please  to  let  my  brother 
George  Burrough  haue  what  remains  in  your  hands  on  the  account 
of  my  deceased  but  Honnoured  father  Mr.  George  Burrough.  Sir 
my  request  is,  that  it  may  be  don  without  delay  for  euery  diss- 
course  on  this  melancholly  Subiect  doth  giue  a  fresh  wound  to 
my  bleeding  hnrt  but  i  desire  to  sit  down  in  silence  and  remain 
sir  your  Honnours  most  obedient  seruant  RCBEKAH  :  TOWLE  : 
37 


434  APPENDIX. 


PETITION  OF   MARY  TOWNE. 

To  the  Honored  Court  now  sitting  in  Salem  Right  Honored : 
the  constable  of  Topsfield  hath  served  a  warrant  on  me  and  two 
of  my  sons  and  two  of  my  sisters  to  Appear  this  day  at  Salem. 
I  humbly  beg  that  your  honor  will  not  import  any  thing  concern- 
ing our  not  coming  as  contempt  of  authority  for  [several  lines 
illegible]  We  would  come  but  we  are  in  a  starving  condition  and 
most  of  us  can  scars  get  of  of  our  bedds  we  are  so  wake  an  not 
a  bell  to  [illegible]  :  as  for  my  dalter  Rebaka  she  hath  starving 
fits  some  times  she  is  knocked  down  of  a  soden : 

MARY  TOWNE. 

Dat.  the  7th  of  September,  1692. 


ADVICE  OF  THE  ELDERS  RESPECTING  THE  QUAKERS. 

[From  the  original  in  the  State  Archives.] 

The  Elders  being  called  to  attend  the  honored  General  Court 
at  a  session  held  in  Boston  Nov.  27,  16C1,  have  unto  certain  quffi- 
res,  then  and  there  proposed  to  them,  returned  their  apprehensions 
as  followeth : 

Quaere  1 .  Whether  the  execution  of  our  laws  referring  to  the 
punishment  of  the  Quakers,  as  such,  shall  be  suspended  pro  tern- 
pore,  or  what  else  to  be  done  therein? 

Jlns.  Upon  his  majesties  letters  [see  p.  52]  we  conceive  it  expe- 
dient that  execution  of  death  or  corporal  punishment  according 
as  is  expressed  therein  be  suspended  pro  tempore.  Provided  that 
some  effectual  course  be  also  taken  in  the  interim  for  the  restraint 
of  turbulencies  in  church  or  state  which  the  king's  warrant  to  our 
apprehension  no  ways  inhibits,  but  rather  encourageth  thereunto. 

Quare  2.  Whether  the  Quakers  in  prison  should  be  sent  for  Eng- 
land with  their  accusations,  or  otherwise  released  out  of  prison. 

Jlns.  We  think  it  much  better  that  the  Quakers  in  prison,  should 
be  sent  for  England  with  their  accusations,  than  that  they  should 
be  released  out  of  prison. 

Quare  3.  Whether  this  Court  is  called  to  make  an  humble  ad- 
dress by  petition  to  his  majesty  in  answer  to  his  letters  now  brought 
concerning  the  said  Quakers. 

Jlns.  To  this  3d  quaere  we  answer  affirmatively. 

Queere.  Whether  this  Court  will  send  any  person  or  persons  to 
solicit  in  the  country's  behalf? 

Jlns.  We  think  this  honored  court  shall  do  well  to  send  some 
fit  person  or  persons  to  solicit  in  the  country's  behalf. 


APPENDIX.  435 

Qu&re  5.  Whether  this  court  will  raise  any  sum  of  money  (and 
what)  to  furnish  such  person  or  persons,  to  manage  our  interests 
in  England  ? 

J}ns.  We  think  this  honored  court  shall  do  well  to  raise  a  com- 
petent sum  of  money,  according  to  the  ability  of  this  place  to  fur- 
nish such  person  or  persons  to  manage  our  interests  in  England. 

This  was  presented  to  the  court  by  the  reverend  Mr.  Mather  in 
the  name  of  the  Elders  as  their  return.  29,  9  mo.  1661. 


PETITION  OF   WILLIAM   DYER  FOR   THE    LIFE   OF   HIS    WIFE. 

[From  the  original  in  the  State  Archives.] 

(See  p.  44.) 

Honored  Sir,  —  It  is  no  little  grief  and  sadness  of  heart,  that  I 
am  necessitated  to  be  so  bold  as  to  supplicate  your  honorable  self 
with  the  honorable  assembly  of  your  general  court  to  extend  your 
mercy  and  favor  once  again  to  me  and  my  children.  Little  did  I 
dream  that  ever  I  should  have  had  occasion  to  petition  you  in  a 
matter  of  this  nature  ;  but  so  it  is,  that  through  the  divine  provi- 
dence and  your  benignity,  my  son  obtained  so  much  pity  and 
mercy  at  your  hands  as  to  enjoy  the  life  of  his  mother.  Now  my 
supplicaiion  to  your  honors  is,  to  beg  affectionately  the  life  of  my 
wife.  Tis  true  I  have  not  seen  her  about  this  half  year,  and  there- 
fore cannot  tell  how  in  the  frame  of  her  spirit  she  was  moved  thus 
again  to  run  so  great  a  hazard  to  herself  and  perplexity  to  me  and 
mine,  and  all  her  friends  and  neighbors.  So  it  is  from  Shell  Island 
about  by  Pequid  Narragansett  and  to  the  town  of  Providence  she 
secretely  and  speedily  journeyed,  and  as  secretly  from  thence  came 
to  your  jurisdiction.  Unhappy  journey  may  I  say,  and  woe  to 
that  generation  say  I  that  gives  occasion  thus  of  grief  and  trouble 
to  those  who  desire  to  be  quiet,  by  helping  one  another  (as  1  may 
say)  to  hazard  their  lives  for  I  know  not  what  end  or  to  what  pur- 
pose. If  her  zeal  be  so  great  as  thus  to  adventure,  oh  let  your 
favor  and  pity  surmount  it  and  save  her  life.  Let  not  your  fore- 
wonted  compassion  be  conquered  by  her  inconsiderate  madness, 
and  how  greatly  will  your  renown  be  spread  if  by  so  conquering 
you  become  victorious.  What  shall  I  say  more  ?  I  know  you  are 
all  sensible  of  my  condition,  and  let  the  reflect  be,  and  you  will 
see  what  my  petition  is  and  what  will  give  me  and  mine  peace. 
Oh  let  mercy's  wings  once  more  soar  above  justice  balance  and  then 
whilst  I  live  shall  I  exalt  your  goodness.  But  otherwise,  'twill  be  a 
languishing  sorrow,  yea,  so  great  that  I  should  rather  suffer  the  blow 


436  APPENDIX. 

at  once,  much  rather.  I  shall  forbear  to  trouble  your  honor  with 
words.  Neither  am  I  in  a  capacity  to  expatiate  myself  at  present. 
I  only  say  that  yourselves  have  been  and  are  or  may  be  husbands 
to  wife  or  wives.  So  am  I.  Yea,  to  one  most  dearly  beloved. 
Oh  do  not  you  deprive  me  of  her,  but  I  pray  give  her  me  once 
again,  and  I  shall  be  so  much  obliged  forever,  that  I  shall  endeavor 
constantly  to  offer  my  thanks,  and  render  your  love  and  honor 
most  renowned.  Pity  me;  1  beg  it  with  tears,  and  rest  your  most 
humble  supplicant.  Most  honorable  sir,  let  these  lines  by  your  favor 
be  my  petition  to  your  honorable  general  court  at  yresent  sitting. 

W.  DYER. 


NOTE   TO   THE   TRIALS   OF   THE    QUAKERS. 

On  page  53  of  the  present  volume  it  is  stated  that  Ann  Colman, 
Mary  Tompkins,  and  Alice  Ambrose  were  tied  to  a  cart's  tail  in 
Dover  and  whipped,  with  ten  stripes  in  each  town,  through  eleven 
towns.  The  statement  ia  not  entirely  accurate.  According  to 
the  Quaker  writers,  a  warrant  to  whip  these  women  through  eleven 
towns  was  made,  but  they  admit  that  it  was  never  fully  executed, 
and  that  the  women  were  in  fact  whipped  through  three  towns 
only,  which  was  in  conformity  to  law.  The  warrant  was  as  fol- 
lows : 

To  the  constable  of  Dover,  Hampton,  Salisbury,  Newbury,  Row- 
ley, Ipswich,  Wenham,  Linn,  Boston,  Roxbury,  Dedham,  and  until 
these  vagabond  Quakers  are  carried  out  of  this  jurisdiction. 

You  and  every  of  you,  are  required,  in  the  king's  majesty's 
name,  to  take  these  vagabond  Quakers,  Ann  Colman,  Mary  Tomp- 
kins, Alice  Ambrose,  and  make  them  fast  to  the  cart's  tail,  and 
driving  the  cart  through  our  several  towns,  to  whip  them  upon 
their  backs,  not  exceeding  ten  stripes  apiece,  on  each  of  them,  in 
each  town,  and  so  to  convey  them  from  constable  to  constable  till 
they  come  out  of  this  jurisdiction,  as  you  will  answer  it  at  your 
peril ;  and  this  shall  be  your  warrant. 

At  Dover  dated  December  22,  1692. 

Per  me,  RICHARD  WALDEN. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

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